


The long way home

by Myxes



Series: Run with me [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, BAMF Stiles, Gen, Hunters, Kidnapping, Near Death Experiences, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pack comes together, Scott is an Idoit, Survival, Why isn't that a tag?, allies to friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-01-29 00:09:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 65,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21400933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myxes/pseuds/Myxes
Summary: If there was one thing Stiles could agree on is that he hated-absolutely hated hunters.It was one thing to be kidnapped and get the shit beat out of you by a geriatric old man, it was another thing entirely to be kidnapped and released hundreds-of-thousands-of-miles away from home so you could be hunted down like the animal they thought you were, in all honesty Stiles would take Gerard-fucking-Argent, over these psychotic sons of bitches any day, and that’s really saying something. At least he wasn’t alone…at least, he had Derek by his side.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski
Series: Run with me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1542850
Comments: 129
Kudos: 201





	1. Prolog

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing this story either since June or July, it would not leave me alone. I hope you guys love it as much as I do! This is my first work in the Teen Wolf fandom and on this site, constructive criticism is welcome. 
> 
> I do not own Teen Wolf, it belongs to Jeff Davis.

Scott hit the ground hard, he was pretty sure he had a couple dozen broken bones, not to mention his belly had almost been torn open.

  
“Face it, your alpha’s long gone. He’s either dead or he’s abandoned your sorry excuse for a pack, but that fine, you have me now, and I promise I’ll treat you right…well those of you that survive, at least.” Marek said, in a sickeningly charming voice.

  
Scott had always thought Derek was bad, but this guy was beyond anything he could think of, and now he found himself wishing for Derek, wishing he were here. Because he couldn’t protect them, he thought he could, and he’d tried his best. But now here he was laying on the ground broken and bleeding, the rest of the pack scattered about in similar states...maybe the abandoned train station wasn't the best place they could've picked.

  
“So, what do you say pups? I’m eager to start my new pack and I’ve very little patients.” The alpha growled out.

  
“Never.” Scott spat at him, around a mouthful of blood.

  
Marek shrugged like he couldn’t care either way. He stalked over to where Scott lay on the ground, clicking his tongue a few times. “Such a shame, and you’re a strong one too.” He said as he pulled his arm back, claws extended, ready to deliver a killing blow.

  
Scott watched everything slow down as Marek’s claws racked through the air, then something blurred in front of his vision.

  
There was a sickening crack and then Marek was flying across the room back towards the entrance.

  
It took Scott even longer to realize someone was standing in front of him, a metal bat perched over his should, his body twisted as if he’d just swung it.

  
“Man, it feels good to be back!” The man said cheerfully as he turned to face Scott, the wolf’s eyes widening when he realized who it was that was standing before him.

  
“Scotty, what have I told you about charging in head first without a plan, and a back-up to that plan?” His best friend said with a grin.

  
“Stiles?!”

  
Scott watched as his best friend’s grin widened.

  
“The one and only.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter guys, things kick off with a bang because it was the only way I could think of to start this thing. Hope you guys enjoy!

“Stiles…”

  
It was honestly to early for this, Stiles thought as he struggled between waking and sleeping.

  
“Stiles!” Someone harshly whispered…wait he knew that voice.

  
The hum of a car engine registered in brain just before he was jostled awake when the vehicle ran over a pothole or something. He gasped as he tried to sit up, scrambling to find his footing and trying to figure out where the fuck he was. Once his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit area, he realized he was in the back of a van, it looked to be law enforcement issued.

  
“Stiles!”

  
His head whipped around, meeting a pair of crimson eyes glaring back at him, it was a glare he was all too familiar with.

  
“Derek?” He questioned just to be sure, his mind still felt a little fuzzy. Without giving the older man a chance to answer, Stiles made his way towards the werewolf. It was only now the he could see the man was heavily chained to the wall of the vehicle, shackles keeping his hands at either side of his head, his feet were also bound-though spread apart, and there was a rather huge one wrapped around his neck, limiting his movements greatly. His shirt was ripped in various places and cover in blood, his jeans weren’t fairing any better.

  
“Hunters, again? Seriously?” The teen hissed as he ran his hands over the restraints, the memories of their capture coming back to him.

  
“Stiles, focus. When we stop-wherever we stop, you need to get out and run as fast and as far as you can, alright?” Derek said, he had on his no-bullshit face.

  
Stiles frowned at him. “You honestly think I’m going to leave you behind? With hunters I might add, are you insane?!” He hissed out the last part out.

  
“Yes, and you will, I don’t know these hunters, or how they operate, they grabbed you because you were with me when they showed up, the first chance you get you need to run.” His eyes were still burning alpha red.

  
“And since when do I ever listen to you? No, we’re both getting out of this, like we always do.” Stiles said, he momentarily lost his footing when the van ran over something else.

  
Derek moved to try and steady him, growling in frustration when he couldn’t even reach out to him. “Stiles, this isn’t game-“

  
“It’s never game, Derek, it’s never been a game to me, I’m not leaving you behind and that’s final.” The teen cut in, the wolf saw the determination in his eye and wondered when the human had gained such a fire inside him.

  
The van came to a stop completely, and this time Stiles went crashing to the floor, hard. Derek tuned out the teen cursing in favor of listening to the hunters outside. They were excited, saying something about how this was going to be the best trip they’ve ever had.

  
Derek frowned at the new information, this couldn’t be good.

  
“What’d you hear?” Stiles asked, he was standing now with an irritated look on his face.

  
“Nothing that can be good.” He responded.

  
The back doors of the van flew open, blinding them both with sunlight. Just as Stiles’ eyes began to adjust, he felt rough hands wrap around his arms, pulling him towards the exit. He automatically clung to Derek, desperately trying to keep them from being separated.

  
“Derek!” Stiles cried, when they finally managed to pull him off the wolf.

  
“Stiles!” He growled out as he thrashed against his restraints in a feeble attempt to get free.

  
The human continued to struggle against his captor as they all but dragged him out of the van, tossing him unceremoniously to the ground once they reached the end. He quickly scrambled to get his to his knees, only to freeze when he felt the unmistakable barrel of a gun press to his temple.

  
“Stop that, right now or your little human will pay the price.” The man said, while he pushed the barrel of the gun more firmly against Stiles’ head, his voice was deep and rough-like he gargled rocks every day, but it also had the calm type of arrogance about it, he had an accent that suggested he was from the south.

  
The growling ceased; Stiles hadn’t registered it till it had abruptly stopped. Stiles heard the chains rattling, and a bit of scuffling before Derek landed on his knees to Stiles’ right. His wrists were now bound behind him, he figured his feet where bound in some way too, else they wouldn’t have let him just sit there like that.

  
“Now, I want you two to listen carefully. This isn’t something to hard for you grasp, all you have to do is run, plain and simple right? You run, we give you about a thirty-minute head start, before we come after you.” Stiles chanced looking around, he saw the edge of a forest about twenty yards ahead, and they were surrounded by thirty to forty some-odd hunters, armed with various weapons. “Now I wouldn’t try anything, we took everything you had from you, and there isn’t any civilization around for miles-not that you would need any, would you, mongrel?” That last part was directed at Derek.

  
Stiles really couldn’t believe what he was hearing, it was like they were in some twisted version of a fox hunt…or was it hunger games, or maze runner? It was right there on the tip of his tongue.

  
“Don’t try anything sneaky, or we’ll gun down your little pet before you even get the chance to reach any of us.” The man said as he stepped back from them.

  
Stiles heard the distinct sound of cuffs being unlocked, from the corner of his eye, he could just make out someone standing behind Derek, unlocking his wrists. The alpha made no attempt to move once he was free, Stiles noticed that his eyes were still flaring red.

  
“Now, let’s not waste any more time.” The man said, Stiles decided to dub him, President Snow.

  
The hunters that circled them parted, leaving an opening straight to the forest.

  
Stiles’ heart began to pound, the muscles in his legs tensing as he prepared to run, he could feel a shift in Derek too. He was freaking out internally, there was no way this was happening, no way in hell!

  
Stiles’ heard the audible click of a gun being cocked, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

  
There was no way this was happening.

  
A crack shot rang in his ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Intense I know, I struggled a bit in the middle there but I hope it flows naturally for you.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot it was update day! this chapter is also short, but don't worry they get longer depending on how much action I can fit into it and, where I figure out the cut off point is.
> 
> That's enough talking from me, enjoy!

Stiles ran, the crack shot still ringing in his ears, he barley processed the excited cheering coming from behind him as he fled, the only thing on his mind was to get away, run, and hide. Even when he made it past the tree line he kept running.

This was insane, leave it to him and Derek to get caught by hunters who decided to capture werewolves and hunt them down for sport, Jesus fuck! How many innocent wolves have they killed-how many fucking humans?! Shit, this was happening, what the fuck was he supposed to do now?

He wasn’t sure how long they ran, but he knew that he’d tire out long before Derek ever would. So, only when his chest started to ache, and his throat began to burn, did he slow down.

Stiles tried his best to implicate the breathing technique runners used to catch his breath, it was difficult because his lungs kept demanding more and more oxygen, but he forced himself to breath through his nose and out his mouth, in his hunched over state.

Derek was doing his best impression of a watch dog, as he looked back towards the direction they came, no doubt stretching his senses to see if they were being followed.

“They’re not going to follow us, not yet.” Stiles said between breaths.

“How do you know?” Derek responded, not even turning to look at the younger man, his head cocked to the side in that way that dogs do when they hear something strange in the distance.

“Think about it, you’re a wolf, it’s not that hard. They want to chase us, but it’s only fun if they can actually hunt us, which is why they gave us a head start.” Stiles responded, as he ran a hand through his now lengthening hair. He ignored the burning pain throughout his body and took stock of himself, he wasn’t any better off than Derek in retrospect, unlike the alpha, his clothes were intact, save for a bit of blood he guessed was from Derek and mud that was smeared here and there, and a bruise on the left side of his jaw. He’d always been fond of his layers, now he was grateful for them, they’d keep him warm when the sun went down.

“Hunters rarely do what they say they’re going to do.” Derek responds, glancing back at Stiles briefly.

“Yeah, I get the feeling that these ones enjoy the game too much to bend the rules.” The teen huffed out as he looked around. “Where are we anyway?”

“Don’t know, too far away to sense any of the pack. We should start moving.” The wolf says as he turns, walking past Stiles.

“Well that’s helpful, how far does the bond stretch?” He inquired, falling into to step beside the alpha.

“depends on the bond, and who you’re connected too, the bonds between us are still too new for it to reach past two-hundred miles, give or take.” Derek explained as he chose a path, wherever they were it didn’t see too much human activity.

Stiles could make out a few cliff sides and mountain structures here and there through the trees, wherever they were, it sure as hell wasn’t Cali. This place had an old vibe to it, like it had been this way for centuries and probably would stay this way for centuries to come, it was an actual wilderness…and it sent shivers down his spine.

“Stiles.” Derek’s voice cut through his thoughts, he looked towards the older man, a lone brow raised. “What’s wrong?”

“This place, can’t you feel it?” He asked as he looked up towards the tree tops.

“Feel what?” Derek asked, he was starting to get a little concerned, had they drugged Stiles when he wasn’t looking?

“It’s old-like really old, and wild.” Stiles said, his brow pulling into a frown.

“It’s a forest Stiles, of course it’s old and wild, what did you expect.” Derek stated, he was starting to get confused because Stiles didn’t smell drugged.

“No-I mean, it’s like really old-can’t you feel it?” Stiles asked again, the wolf could scent his agitation growing.

“Stiles-“

“No Derek, just use your wolf-y senses or something, because this is really starting to freak me out, and I honestly don’t need that right now.” The teen cut in, running a frustrated hand through his short hair.  
Derek huffed in frustration, they didn’t need this right now, there were more important things they should be doing-like running for their lives. But he humored the human, closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. Something began to thrummed through him, like a pulse, the more he focused on it the more he could feel it, this place was more alive then the preserve back in Beacon Hills, and it sang to his wolf-tugging at something inside him, it was like something was pulling him in a certain direction, or trying to pull something out of him. He heard the wind curve and twist between the trees before it reached him, when it did, he caught the faint scent of the ocean. So, they were still close to the coast, he was sure it was the same one. Derek hadn’t felt a shift in the moon’s phases, the full moon was still about a week away, if they had been taken to another coast or continent, everything would’ve shifted accordingly, so they were still in the same time-zone, that was good, it made it easier to get home.

“I feel it too, wolves have a natural connection to any wilderness.” Derek said as he resumed their trek.

“But I’m not a wolf, how can I be feeling this, I even felt it before you.” Stiles questioned.

“But you are a part of a pack, humans in packs sometimes differ from regular humans, whether they were born in or not. Even humans who aren’t apart of a pack can sometimes connect with the earth in ways others can’t, it’s not unheard of, just try not to think about it to much, we can think on it more when we get out of here.” Derek explained as he picked up the pace a bit, they’d already been out here for roughly fifteen minutes, that meant that they had another fifteen to put as much distance between them and the hunters, and they were at a clear disadvantage, being in an area they had no prior experience in tended to make things difficult.

“fine, but where exactly is here, anyway?” Stiles questioned as he fell into step with the wolf, for once he was grateful for his long legs as he extended them into full stride.

“Were still on the west coast, the ocean is that way,” He gestured towards the west, were the coast sat about a thousand or so miles away from where they stood. “The sun is setting in the same direction as the coast, and I haven’t felt a shift in the moon’s phases so were still in the same time zone, if we head north for a few miles, we may be able to curve round and head south, judging by the temperature and the landscape were far up north, maybe not even in the states anymore. So, we head south where we might run into a town, maybe even a road, so we can figure out how far we really are; though we can’t risk taking the road or entering any town, we don’t know how many hunters are apart of this, we also don’t want to raise any flags, that van was to high grade which means they’ve got connections.”

“The only advantage we have is the terrain, they can’t bring any cars or trucks into the forest, so they’ll be on foot just like us, they may have hunted here before, but wolves always have the advantage of adapting quickly to sudden changes. We’ll make it home, it’ll take time-but we’ll make it out of here.” He finished with a contemplative look.

Stiles stared at the older man in mute shock and awe. “That is like the most words I’ve ever hear you speak. We must be in deep shit if you’ve suddenly become the chatter box.”  
Derek growled at the remark, his upper lip pulling back slightly.

“Kidding, but if what you say is true, then why the fuck are we in British Columbia?!” it was more of a shriek than a question.

Derek winced at the pitch of his voice before raising a questioning eyebrow.

“Dude, if we’re up north and no longer in the states, were in British Columbia, Canada. That’s over a thousand miles from home, if we were anywhere near the border-which I’m pretty sure we’re not. And that means that if we’re going to be huffing it all the way back home, that’s about two weeks’ worth of travel-again only if we’re anywhere near the border.” Stiles explained as he flailed wildly.

“How do you even know that?” Derek questioned, at least they had a time frame…well, sort of.

“Uh hello, have you met me? I got bored on Maps once the geography also matches too-that’s not the point! The point is, we’re hundreds of miles from home, being hunted like wild animals, it could be months before we get home Derek, months!” Stiles shouted, realizing then that he’d begun to hyperventilate.

Derek was quick to grab hold of the younger man, and all but drag him to nearby cluster of bushes and shrubs. He quickly pulled the younger man down, so they both sat hidden from plain sight.

“Stiles, take it easy, breath.” He tried to console.

“Breath? Breath! You try breathing when you know you won’t be able to make it home for weeks on end, and-and my dad. Plus, we’re being hunted, oh my god! We’re going to die!” Stiles’ voice cracked with those last words as the situation they were in began to sink in.

“Stiles, we’re not going to die, and we’ll make it home, no matter how long it takes, alright?” Derek said, his voice taking on a placating tone.

“How do you know?” The teen asked between gasps.

“Because, I’m not alone, and you’re not alone. Remember what you said back in the van, about how you and I will get out of this together, like we always do?” Derek asked as he held Stiles’ face between his hands.  
Stiles nodded, his breathing visibly slowing down.

“That’s what we’re going to do, we rely on each other like we always do, we keep each other safe, and we keep each other alive, and if worse comes to worse you go on without me.” Derek said, a slight frown on his face.

“No, I won’t leave you, I said I wouldn’t.” The teen was shaking his head as best he could in Derek’s hold, his own hands clamped around the older man’s wrists.

“I know, but this is completely different from all those other times, we’re not home, we’re not in our territory, if anything happens, you have to go on, promise me Stiles.” The wolf pleaded.

“Derek I-“

“Promise me!” The alpha demanded.

“I promise, I-I promise.”

Derek nodded once before pulling the teen into a strong embrace.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that.” Stiles said, his words muffled against Derek’s shoulder, holding onto the wolf just as tightly.

“I do too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emotions make everything better! Wonder if I should add an angst tag...? Hope you enjoyed it and I will see you guys again next week!


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I didn't forget about update day, it's just things were hectic yesterday, plus I've caught a cold-the joys of winter!
> 
> I wanted to apologize in advance for my portrayal of B.C, Canada, I've never been there so the scenery and landscapes come from my imagination and what I could see from google maps, just hoping I don't offend anyone with it.

“You can sense the phases of the moon?” Stiles asked after they had resumed their walk. Once they had pulled apart from each other and regained their composure, Derek had helped the younger man up from their little hiding place and made sure Stiles had himself under control for the moment.

Derek made sure to take the paths less traveled by other wildlife, such as deer, elk, and or moose. He knew that hunters would still be able to track them with their years of experience, but he was damn sure going to make it difficult before they ended up in any sort of confrontation.

“All born wolves can, some bitten can if they work on it, but it’s not as accurate.” Derek provided.

“Does that mean you can tell if the moon is going to be different?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, remember last month was a lunar eclipse, blood moon, and supermoon. This month also happens to be a supermoon, the biggest so far this year, and there’s going to be one next month too.” Stiles explained with ease.

“We can’t really tell till the moon gets closer to being full, but even then, it’s hard to tell how the moon will affect us.” The wolf said as he remembers last month, that particular full moon hadn’t been fun, all his beta’s had pretty much went bat shit, scattering themselves throughout the preserve and the town, it took the help of Stiles, the Argents, and Lydia, to wrangle them all to one house, where they promptly passed out after instigating a pack wrestle in the middle of Stiles’ living room, there had been a lot of questions that morning from the sheriff. Derek was just happy that he didn’t have to be present for, because that would’ve raised even further questions that he wasn’t to keen on answering after a night like that.

“Since this one is stronger than before, is their anything we should worry about?” Stiles asked as he stepped over a fallen branch.

“No, I might be a little more temperamental then usual beforehand.”

Stiles snorted, Derek was always temperamental, he didn’t even think the wolf ever stopped being temperamental. “What about during?”

“I’m not sure, the pull will be stronger than before, I’m not sure how much, but it may give us an advantage.”

“It’s possible.” Stiles said as he thought it over, tilting his head from one side to the other. “It’s also possible you might fly off the handle with the pack so far away and with all the danger we’re in.”

The wolf didn’t bother to answer, he’d been through supermoons before, but he’d had Laura then and it’d been easy to lose himself with her by his side. Now, he wasn’t sure what was going to happen when the moon came.

They walked for a few more minutes, before Derek froze, his body going ridged, the teen stopped right beside him, straining his ears for any kind of sound besides natural wildlife.

“Run!” Derek yelled.

Without any hesitation Stiles broke out into a sprint, Derek running slightly behind, on his left.

Even though Stiles couldn’t hear anything from their pursuers, he’d always trust Derek’s senses-even more than Scott’s. So, he ran, ignoring the building pain, and trying to focus on the path ahead so he didn’t trip and end up slowing them down further. Derek had pulled ahead of him, acting as a guide for him, always making sure to steer him away from obstacles that would normally trip him up.

Everything was going fine until Stiles caught something shinning in a tree up ahead, making him slow down, he wasn’t sure if Derek had caught it himself; it became clear he hadn’t when he kept charging forward.

“Derek!” He chocked out between frantic gasps. “Wait!”

The wolf stopped abruptly, but it was too late, the sound of a cord being snapped rang through the air, followed by the sound of a nylon rope being yanked through what sounded like a pully. Stiles pushed his body harder then he’d ever done before, picking up the pace he’d lost moments ago, and dove for Derek just as the trap sprung.

Derek caught sight of a net flying into the air, the scent of wolfbane filling his senses. They crashed to the ground hard, rolling over each other repeatedly as momentum carried them. It only got worse when the incline changed and suddenly, they were tumbling downward, fast. On reflex Derek pulled the teen closer, trying his best to take the brunt force of the fall, he was grateful that wherever that had fallen that they hadn’t encountered any trees or boulders.

They were gasping by the time they had stopped rolling completely, clinging to each other desperately till their brains caught up and they realized they had stopped rolling, and everything had stopped spinning.

“Shit.” Stiles hissed out.

“You okay?” Derek questioned as he pushed the teen away so he could get a better look.

“Ah, yeah, I think.” Stiles answered.

The wolf quickly pulled them to their feet, taking Stiles’ hand as he scanned the area of where they had landed, then took off in a light jog to a nearby tree, close to the incline. He quickly sat the teen down and let his instincts take over as he began scenting the younger man, invading his personally space in search of any injury. Starting with his head, then down to his neck, over his chest. He froze when he got to Stiles’ left arm; he quickly but gently pulled back the sleeve of his plaid overshirt to reveal an inch-long gash on his for arm. Stiles hissed as his brain began to register the pain. And as if it were waiting for them to take notice it began to bleed. Derek’s wolf pushed even further to the surface and before he knew it his tongue was laving at the wound till the bleeding stopped and the wound began to close.

“Holy shit, I didn’t know you could do that.” Stiles said as he watched the wound slowly heal into a thin white scar.

“Neither did I.” Derek said, staring down at the now completely healed gash.

Stiles grimaced, “It’s gross, but cool.”

The wolf simply shook his head and continued with his examination, his hands were now on either side of Stiles’ torso as he gently squeezed his ribs, zeroing in on his hearing for any sound of broken bones, or punctured organs, the human squirmed in his grasp at Derek’s probing. After he deemed the area clear he moved on to the teen’s legs, padding him down as he scented for anymore blood or open wounds. Then he moved back up to face Stiles, holding up one finger asking Stiles to follow it as he tilted his head back slightly, so the sun shun in his eyes.

“Nothing’s broken, but you’re going to have some pretty nasty bruises, you don’t have a concussion, or any internal bleeding. You’ve got a few nicks and scrapes but nothing that’s cause for concern.” Derek stated once he was done.

Stiles squinted at him. “Where’d you learn this stuff?”  
“Not everyone in my family were wolves, we were taught a few things just in case any of the humans in our pack were injured, I learned the other things when I was in New York, a wolf who lived in Brooklyn with his family was a doctor and he taught me a thing or two about using my senses to check for injuries.” Derek quickly explained as he moved to stand.

“We need to keep moving-how did you know about the trap?” Derek asked, uselessly trying to dust off his clothes.

“I saw the um pully thing up in the tree, the sun glinted off it, didn’t know what it was right away, but then I remembered Scott had gotten tied up in one of the Argents traps a while back, it was kind of like this one. Guess running from hunters is not all we’ve got to worry about.” Stiles ended the last sentence with a sigh as he lent up against the tree, grunting in pain when a muscle in his left thigh started to cramp.

Derek’s hand was on his thigh in seconds, draining the pain while trying to work the tense muscle. “That wasn’t a normal trap, it was a net drenched in wolfsbane.”

Stiles sighed, this time in relief before frowning at this new information. “Holy shit, really?”

“Yes, it was faint, I didn’t smell it till the trap sprung, I can still smell it even from down here.” The wolf replied in frustration as he pulled his hand away from the teens leg, he never liked others having the upper hand on him, if he’d been alone-he’d have been dead for sure.

“Shit man, this is like Hunger Games, meets Naked and Afraid-minus the naked part.” Stiles huffed out as he pushed himself up off the tree, hesitating briefly in case anything else decided to start hurting.

Derek raised a single brow at that comment, wondering how the teen came up with the things he did from time-to-time. “Come on, let’s get moving.”

The sun hung low in the sky, the air growing colder the closer it got to setting, they were both grateful that it was close to summer. Their had only been about a week and a half left of school for Stiles and the rest of the pack, which the teen was grateful for, he’d already turned in all his school work before-hand, in preparation of the upcoming full moon, and since it was the end of the year, it really didn’t matter if he showed up for those last few days.

They’d been walking for the better part of an hour now-keeping an eye out for any more traps. Derek had kept his senses open, just in case the hunters got to close again, so far, he hadn’t picked up on anything.  
When he picked up the sound of running water, he’d quickly altered their direction, Stiles didn’t comment on the sudden change, which was a little off putting.

They walked for another fifteen minutes before they reached a decent sized stream of fresh water.

“Oh, thank god!” Stiles exclaimed, all but falling into the stream as he tried to drink his fill.

The wolf joined him a second later, cupping his hands in the steady current then lifting them towards his mouth, water dripping down his arms and chin.

“Part of me still can’t believe this is happening, Derek.” Stiles said as he whipped away excess water from his chin.

“I know…but we’ll get through this.”

“But there’s so many things we don’t have, things that we need…if I wasn’t with you-holding you back I-“

“Stop, you’re not holding me back Stiles.”

“If I wasn’t here, you’d be long gone! You’d probably be half way home by now!”

“No, I’d be trapped back in that net, with no way of getting free!”

“If the hunters don’t get me, this place will! I only know the basics of survival, Derek. Not to mention that we don’t have any supplies, what are going to do for food? I know you and your wolf-y self can survive on pretty much anything you can catch, but I can’t.”

“Stiles!” The wolf finally cut in. “You’re not going to die out here, if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Der-“ He tried.

“No, Stiles.” Derek said as he moved to stand, swiped his hand through the air. “You’ve got to stop thinking like this, you’re not holding me back in any way, and no I wouldn’t be halfway home by now, I’d still be trying to figure out where the hell I am, and how long it would take me to find my way home, if you hadn’t figured where we were, or how long it’d take us to get home, I’d be wondering around aimlessly. I know my directions, and I know how to hunt, and survive, but when you’re put in area where you’ve never been, and everything has shifted-it’s disorienting. Look, I need you Stiles, not just to find my way home, I need you because you’ll keep me human, when wolves stay in the wilderness for to long, they can easily turn feral-even with a pack waiting for them to return-it’s even harder to remain human when you’re being hunted. I need you here, not just because your human but because you’re pack too.”

Derek was now standing right in front of Stiles, easily invading his personal space in order to get his point across. “You keep me human…and we’ll both survive. I wouldn’t be able to think straight without you, we need each other to get through this, like we always do.” Despite circumstance Derek allowed a small smile to pull at his lips.

“What about me, I could just as easily loose my shit too.” If I lost, you. Stiles added silently. It was just the two of them, there was no Scott, or his dad. They only had each other, and it was just going to have to do.

Derek scuffed, “Even if you did, you’d survive a lot longer than I would.” He turned his attention to the setting sun but didn’t move from his position. Closing his eyes, he pushed his senses to their limits, they needed a place to stop for the night. So, he listened to the area around him, drowning out the sound of wildlife he listened to the wind as it cut a path through the trees. His head twitched minutely when he heard an echo, rocks were being shifted probably by a rabbit or a fox, but it’d echoed, so their must be some sort of alcove, or rock structure. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure that they’d find any shelter, but it was worth a try.

When he finally opened his eyes, Stiles spoke. “Find anything interesting?”

“Might’ve found a place for us to hold up for a bit.” He answered as he turned in the direction of where his sense led him-which happened to be east. With his enhanced sight he could make out a portion of a rock face, partially hidden by the trees.

“Any place is a good place.” Stiles responded while chewing on his bottom lip. “think it’ll be better than the loft?”

Derek snorted. “Drink some more water, we won’t be staying as close to a water source, it’s where they’ll look first.”

Stiles obeyed, taking a few more drinks before speaking again. “When did you become such a motivational speaker? Maybe we should get kidnapped more often.”

The wolf just rolled his eyes and started walking.

“Hey, wait-Derek!” The teen called out as he scrambled to catch up with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of action and humor, hope you guys enjoyed it. 
> 
> Will retune to regular posting schedule next Monday.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my stars! I'm so sorry you guys! Yesterday was an honest to stars shit show and I completely forgot it was update day, sorry it's late!
> 
> it's kind of short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Stiles gasped, his stomach sinking as the ground gave way beneath him, opening into a massive hole that he was now falling into. His arms pinwheeled as he tried to regain his lost balance, but it was useless as gravity pulled him down. He grunted as his body jerked to halt, he barley had time to process what was happening when the chasm under him blurred.

Stiles shamelessly clung to Derek; the older man had his arms tightly wrapped around him. When he managed to get his bearings, he looked down into the hole he’d almost fallen into, poorly cut wooden spikes rose up from the ground, and the teen could scarcely make out the slightest tint of purple on the tips.

“Do you think these guys spend their spare time watching Indian Jones films-or maybe Predator?” Stiles joked as he tried to slow his rapidly beating heart, he’d almost died and for some reason he could only think of that one scene from Frozen, when Olaf had been run through with an icicle…though this one wasn’t as funny.

Derek didn’t bother to answer, his nose scrunched up at the strong scent of wolfsbane. 

The sky had darkened considerably in the last half hour-which was why Stiles had nearly taken a nosedive into near certain death-and a chill had begun setting in. Being this far up north meant there were still going to be cold nights, of course they still had them back in Beacon Hills, but they had the luxury of staying indoors where it was warm.

“Come on, let’s keep moving.” The wolf finally spoke, tugging the human along, leaving the near-death trap behind them.

Derek made sure to keep him close, making sure Stiles stepped where he stepped. It was quite a feat when it came to fallen branches and roots, since the teen was already a klutz to begin with-toss in some wilderness and limited eyesight and it was an accident waiting to happen. More than once Derek had caught the younger man as he stumbled like a new born deer, it was either by the arm, waist, or literally having Stiles all but fall into his back; forcing the older man to catch himself, while grabbing onto each other’s waists and wait till they were both steady enough to move on.

They were about two yards from the possible hovel they’d have to stay in for the night. Now that they were closer Derek could make out an extremely shallow cave, it only went in about eight feet, it was wide enough for both to be comfortable. The wolf had made sure to scent for any other wildlife that might be using the cave as a home, so far, he’d found nothing, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be cautious.  
“Wait here.” He said when they reached the cave, pressing his hand to the younger man’s chest.

“Wait, Derek?” The teen whispered out harshly, but the wolf ignored him and easily disappeared into the darkness ahead.

Stiles was only able to wait for all of thirty seconds before calling out to the wolf again. “Derek?”

“Derek, seriously, this isn’t funny, I’m really starting to freak out.” Stiles hissed out as he hunched over and hugged himself, he was beginning to feel unnervingly alone, and it felt way colder now then it had moments ago.

“Would you relax.” Derek said from somewhere to the left.

Making the teen jump and flail uncontrollably. “Can you not? You and this forest are set on giving me a heart attack!”

“I was just checking to see if this place had been rigged, it’s a lot easier for me to climb out of a hole then you.” The wolf said as grabbed the teens wrist, pulling him towards the cave.

Stiles could barely make out the structure before him, it was almost as tall as the trees and stretched on to both his right and left, the roof of the cave was about eight feet from the ground. The limited moonlight only allowed him to see about three feet in front of him. The hill or mountain reached far past that. “You think it’s okay to light a fire?” The teen asked as he ran his hands up and down his arms, trying to warm up his appendages.

“If we do, it can’t be a big one, and it’ll have to be as far into the cave as possible. There’s always the chance that the hunters will spot it, but I should be able to hear them before they even reach us.” Derek said as he ran his hand over the jagged mouth of the cave.

“Okay, so what do you want me to do?” The teen asked, now that he realized they were finally stopping for the night, the aches and pains of all that he’d been throughout the day were steadily making their presence known, making him want to drop down right then and there.

“You, will wait in here while I go out and get some kindling, I won’t go far, and I’ll be able to hear you if anything happens.” The older man said as he waited for the teen to make his way into the cave, where he promptly sat down, his arms still wrapped tightly around himself.

“Yeah, okay-just don’t take to long.” Stiles said, looking up at the older man as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Derek could scent his anxiety growing even stronger then it had when he’d disappeared earlier.

“I won’t.” The wolf promised before stalking off.

He returned about three minutes later with an armful of sticks, dead grass, and a few rocks. He gestured to the back of the cave as he walked past the teen. Derek quickly set everything up in an uneven circle, then he grabbed two rocks and repeatedly struck them against each other till they created sparks, the sound bouncing off the walls of the cave. When a few of the sparks began to catch flame, the wolf knelt closer, blowing on the embers softly, coaxing the fire to grow.

Derek sat back against the wall with a sigh, he had a clear view out the mouth of the cave, nothing obstructing his view for a good twelve feet from where he sat. Stiles joined him a second later, his hands outstretched towards the fire, also heaving a heavy sigh.

“This is by far the worst situation we’ve gotten ourselves into.” The teen said.

“You and I together yeah, apart, I think I’ve been in worse.” The wolf responded.

“Is it sad that I find that amusing?” Stiles questioned.

“Not really, it’s a fucked-up world we live in. I think we’d be worse off if we didn’t find anything to laugh about.” Derek answered, this day was in his top three of horrible days, and it was sad to say he even had a list for that.

“You’ve got that right.” Stiles said as he rubbed his hand over his face, he was beyond tired. He was also sure that his mind wasn’t going to let him sleep, plus being in a constant state of fight or flight made it even harder.

“You should sleep.” Derek said, rolling the back of his head against the cave wall to look at him.

“Don’t think I can.” Was Stiles’ reply.

The wolf huffed before pulling the teen down so that his head rested on his thigh.

“You know you could’ve just asked.” Stiles complained as he stared at the fire.

“Would you have done it, if I had?” The older man asked.

“Probably not.”

“well then, there you go.”

Stiles couldn’t help but chuckle as he moved his left hand to rest on Derek’s knee.

“What about you?”

“I’m going to keep watch.”

“Of course, you are.” The human sighed out.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Derek questioned.

“you need rest too.” He answered.

“A lot less then you.” The wolf retorted.

Derek narrowly missed getting headbutted by the teen when he shot up from his position in order to glare at the older man.

“This isn’t going to work if you’re going to argue with me about sleep, there’s no way in hell I’m sleeping if you’re not.” Stiles said heatedly.

“We can’t both sleep when there’s so much danger around us, I’ll get some sleep eventually, I just need to keep an eye out for anything and everything. You know this isn’t a situation where we can both afford rest,” Derek reasoned.

“I know,” Stiles said as he let his head hit Derek’s shoulder. “I just, I worry about you and your martyr complex.”

“I do not have a complex.” The wolf defended.

The teens head pulled back; he fixes Derek with a deadpanned look.

Derek huffed indignantly. “Just shut up and go to sleep.”

Stiles continued to glare at the wolf for a solid minute before he reclaimed his spot on the wolf’s lap, grumbling to himself about the wolf being a pain in the ass.

“Shut up, Stiles.” The wolf repeated, though it was a lot less heated then before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're really starting to care about one another! hope you enjoyed it, if I get enough feedback from you guys I'll post the next chapter early...or maybe today as an apology for forgetting I was suppose to update.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made it! *panting heavily*
> 
> Hey guys, finally updating on the right day... *sweats* Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, it made me really want to write a sleep Sterek. 
> 
> Oooh before I forget again!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own teen wolf all right belong to Jeff Davis, because lets be honest Sterek would've been the endgame and it Should've been!

“Well that explains why you were all in my house last month. Just be honest with me, my son is still human right?” The sheriff asked as rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, sitting on the edge of his recliner.

“I can assure you sheriff, that your son is one-hundred percent human.” Peter said from where he leant against the living room wall.

“That is the farthest from assuring you can get.” Noah responded as he glared at the wolf.

“He’s human sheriff.” Scott said with a soft smile.

“The why’d they take him?” Noah questioned.

“Because anyone involved with the pack, especially the alpha can be used against them. As a target, bait, bargaining, or for a trap. But, knowing Stiles, he wouldn’t let them just use him like that.” Chris Argent spoke up before peter could.

“So, what was he doing with Hale in the first place?”

There were a few shrugs here and there before Isaac spoke up from his position on the floor in front of the couch. “He usually comes to Derek when there’s a news threat in town, either Derek had asked him to do some research or Stiles had come to argue over something he’d done. Nine times out of ten, it’s usually to argue about something.”

“Why does that not surprise me.” The sheriff sighed out.

“To be fair, sheriff. The young ones might not know it yet, but Stiles is a vital part of the pack, without him most of them would’ve been dead by now. He was the one who figured out what Scott was long before he did.” Peter said with a touch of arrogance.

“And if I’m correct, you’re the reason we’re in this mess to begin with.” Noah shot back

“Technically, it’s my sister’s fault, no doubt my father had a roll in it too.” Chris cut in with a placating tone.

Noah sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that night. “Well I guess all we have to do is wait for your men to get back to us then?”

Chris nodded.

“Well the I suppose the rest of you should head on home and get some rest, he gestured to the teens that were scatters about his living room.

No one made a move to leave, which made the sheriff frown.

“We won’t be able to sleep.” Ms. Martin spoke up.

“Even so, you should all get home.” Noah said as he moved to stand.

Still, no one moved, making the man raise an eyebrow at them.

“Allow me to explain, in packs it’s common for the wolves to look to the second for direction if the alpha is gone for long periods of time or is missing. Since Derek hasn’t chosen one yet, by natural selection and instinct the position of acting alpha has shifted to you.” Peter explained.

The sheriff frowned at this information. “Why?”

“You’re the sheriff of Beacon Hills. You have the strength, power, and knowledge to lead. Like I said before, Stiles is a vital part of the pack, and that makes you pack by default. I already screwed up my chances as a possible second, and as an elder of the pack it’s only natural that’d the pack as a whole would choose you.”

Noah squinted at the floor as he processed the information. “So, I take it that you guys are going to be sticking around a lot more then?”

There were nods all around, and the sheriff just shook his head. “Scott you know where all the extra blankets and pillows are, I’m off to bed.”

He paused and looked at the other three adults in the room.

“We’ll see ourselves out.” Melissa said as she ushered the werewolf and the hunter out of his house without a second thought. Noah wondered how scary a women you had to be to be able to all but force a fully trained hunter and a fully-grown werewolf out the door without a fuss.

He’d save that for another time, for now though he needed to get as much sleep as he could, if he was going to get his son back.

Stiles woke with a start everything was in pitch-black, the only thing that kept him from freaking out was the solid figure laying in front of him. He was no longer laying on Derek’s lap, instead his head was resting on the wolf’s bicep, his face to his chest, and his back to the wall.

The teen felt what he guessed was Derek’s hand-that wasn’t trapped under his head-gently squeeze his waist in silent question.

“M’ okay, just forgot where I was for a second.” He answered softly, he’d known the wolf was awake, even though the fire had long since died. Maybe it had to do with the primal part of his brain that let him know a predator was watching him-or over him, in this case.

“You know this is very alpha of you right? Putting yourself between me and the entrance.” The teen spoke again, still keeping his soft tone.

He tilted his head upward to where he was pretty sure Derek’s face was, the small puff of breath hit his on his own proving him right. A second later his eyes zeroed in on Derek’s as they began to glow alpha red.

The teen could tell he wasn’t trying to be threatening, in fact he looked as sleepy as Stiles’ felt.

“S’ my job to protect the pack.” The wolf said, speaking a bit softer then the teen had.

“Have you slept?”

Thanks to the glowing eyes, Stiles could see him shaking his head no.

“You should, even if it’s only for a little bit.”

Stiles watched as the glow of his eyes faded and the hand that had been resting on his side moved to his back and pulled him in a bit closer.

The ache that had steadily building since he’d woke had begun to fade and he felt the urge to sleep take hold again. He guessed it was Derek’s doing, he wondered for a moment if the wolf was trying to put him to sleep so he could continue to keep watch, but then he felt Derek’s forehead lightly bump against his and stay there. Stiles also heard more then felt his breath even out, and despite the circumstance, he felt a small smile tug at his lips before getting a bit more comfortable and waiting for sleep to take him too. They were as safe as they could be for now, in their small bubble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short, but I promise it won't last forever, let me know what you think about this one, and I'll see you in a weeks time! 
> 
> Love you guys!


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you like this chapter, it was fun to write. I wanted to wish you all a happy holidays, and since I'm pet sitting for my sister while she on a little trip I might decide to post a few more chapters because I have nothing better to do, and it's the holidays!
> 
> Hope you like this one, and I hope you guys are enjoying your holidays!

Stiles woke to his body aching all over, there was also a dull throbbing in his left wrist, but he ignored it for the simple fact that he’d woken up alone in their temporary little hovel. Derek was no where in sight, and it was setting him on edge. Where was he, was he scouting the area for hunters? He wouldn’t just leave…would he?

The teen moved to stand, even though his muscles protested the entire time, and made his way to the mouth of the cave. Now that it was daylight, Stiles could make out things in more detail, like the moss that clung to the edges of the cave, and the small bed of rocks just a few feet ahead. He was surprised he hadn’t tripped over them the night before, then again it was Derek who’d be guiding him, so he probably had him to thank for that.

The snapping of a twig cut Stiles’ examination of getting a layout of the land short. He quickly but quietly scrambled to a hiding spot. A gap between the walls of the cave just a few feet back that he’d seen earlier as he was making his way out of the cave, it was easy to miss if you’re weren’t looking for it. He quickly sucked in his stomach as he turned sideways and began to squeeze himself into the gap, it wasn’t to tight, just a little snug. He shuffled back as far as he could, which turned out to be pretty deep, about three feet if he wanted to get technical. Stiles covered his mouth with his own hands in order to stifle the sound of his heavy breathing, and focused on his hearing, he might not have a wolf’s hearing, but he knew he had a pretty good set of ears on him.

He measured his breath, forcing himself to breath slowly and listened. Not even a few seconds later he heard footsteps, they weren’t light, but they weren’t heavy either.  
He squeezed his eyes shut, chanting in his mind over and over. “Please be Derek. Please be Derek. Please be Derek!”

His stomach sank when he heard the voice that was defiantly not Derek. For one, it was a voice to high to belong to a male…well it could but that was only under a certain set of circumstances. He couldn’t make out what she was saying, but the audible shrike of a walkie helped tip him off to the fact that it was in fact a hunter who’d found them.

How’d they catch up so quickly? the only way they could do that is if they had kept going through the night. Against his better judgment he shuffled closer, wanting to hear more.  
“No, they were here alright, but not for long by the looks of it. I’d say they’ve got a few hours ahead of us.” He heard the huntress say.

The walkie screeched before he heard another voice on the other end, Stiles could tell it was male, but he couldn’t figure out what he was saying.

“Got ya, we’ll meet at the next checkpoint if nothing happens. Let’s move out!” She yelled, Stiles could make out the sound of her walking away and what he guessed was the sound of a few others too.

He let his head fall forward, allowing it to hit the wall in front of him, there was no way he was moving from here anytime soon. He wasn’t even sure how he’d managed to wake up before they arrived, but that didn’t make him any less grateful that he had.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, and he hadn’t bothered trying to keep track. All he knew was that it was never safe to check if the ones who were chasing you had actually left because it was almost certain that they hadn’t.

His legs were starting to ache more and more from standing for so long and also being stuck in a position with limited movement didn’t help. What also didn’t help was that he was starting to sweat, the temperature was rising with the sun, and being here where there was little to no air circulation meant that his own body heat was working against him.

Stiles finally decided that he was going to wait at least five more minutes before leaving his hiding place and trying to look for Derek.

A Shadow passed over him blocking out any light that was filtering through cave. He noticed to late, thinking back the huntress from earlier hadn’t gotten this close. He gasped aloud without thinking as he tried to scramble back further, if they wanted him, they sure as hell were going to work for it.

“Stiles.” A voice whispered sharply.

The boy froze. “Der-? Derek!”

He quickly changed directions, trying to get out as fast as possible. The teen could kind of make out Derek’s arm stretching out towards him, once he was within a reasonable distance the wolf latched on with an iron grip and helped pulled him out the rest of the way.

Stiles felt like he could breath finally, even though there was no wind blowing, the air was ten times cooler here then in there, but he didn’t dwell on it.  
“What the actual fuck, Derek!” he huffed out.

The older man ignored him, in favor of checking him over. Grabbing ahold of his face and tilting it this way and that before moving on to the rest of him.

Stiles pulled out of his grip. “I’m fine,” he said hotly. “Mind telling me where the fuck you were?”

Derek glared at him. “Hunting, not too far away so that I couldn’t hear you.”

Then his face softened. “I’m sorry, I noticed the hunters to late. By the time I got here, they were already scooting the areas, I had to wait a bit longer because they had decided to linger.”

Stiles dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. “You can’t do that, can’t just leave me like that, I didn’t know where you were or if they’d gotten you. I understand you were doing what you needed to, but next time just wake me or take me with you, please.”

Derek nodded as his eyes trailed over to Stiles’ former hiding spot. “That was some quick thinking.”

“yeah,” He sighed out. “You know they spend so much time thinking like wolves so they can catch them that they forget to think like a human.”

A sly smile spread across the wolf’s lips. “And that’s how I know we’re going to get through this.”

Stiles chuckled before shaking his head. “seriously though, you can’t go running off on me again.”

The wolf nodded before reaching and gently grabbing the teen by the back of the neck. “There’s no way I’m letting them get you, and even if they do, it won’t be for long.”

Stiles nodded, reaching up to grasp the older man’s wrist in affirmation.

The back of his neck was burning from what little sun could break through the trees, and hunger was beginning to make itself know, very loudly Stiles might add.

They had long since left what poor excuse of a camp behind, in favor of continuing with Derek’s plan of heading north, making a U-turn, then heading south, which hopefully meant heading home.

The wolf had made the decision to head northwest, it would add more time, but it kept them from following behind the hunters. After telling Derek what he’d overheard, the wolf was sure to keep his senses open. Now that they knew they were being hunted by individual groups, it made things a bit harder for them.

Stiles suppressed another audible groan when his stomach decided to complain again. Derek had stopped walking abruptly making the teen freeze, wondering if they had found another group or hunters, or another trap.

“What is it?”

“You need to eat.” Derek said roughly, stating the obvious.

“Well yeah, but a random diner isn’t going to pop up out of nowhere, I mean it would if this were Percy Jackson, but I’d take a hard pass, everyone in those diners is usually trying to kill you.” The teen babbled out.  
Derek just stared at him with a blank expression.

“What?” Stiles all but whined. “No Adderall equals even less of a brain-to-mouth filter, if you thought I was bad before, just wait.”

The wolf rolled his eyes at the teen before turning his attention to the treetops, Stiles didn’t even get a chance to ask what the older man was looking for, because in the next second, he was being steered towards one of the many trees that surrounded them. It was probably one of the youngest ones here because its branches were low enough to reach if he jumped, he was starting to get an idea of where Derek’s thoughts were headed.

“There’s no way you’re sticking me in some tree.” Stiles hissed sharply; he was pretty sure there were no hunters around, but one could never be too careful.

“It’s just until I can get us something to eat, okay.” Derek said as he spun the younger man towards the tree.

“Wait what are you-?” The teen gasped, just barley managing to bite back a yelp as he was effortlessly hoisted up past the first branch.

“Climb up a few more, the farther up, the less likely they are to see you. People seldom look up, because they have no reason too.” The wolf explained as he watched Stiles cling to the branch in front of him. Once he saw that the teen had a firm hold, he moved his hands from his waist and backside, down towards his feet, so he had proper foot holds.

Derek watched as the teen scaled up the branches till he was a good twelve feet from the ground, sitting on a branch big enough to hold his weight. The wolf didn’t bother with trying to communicate verbally, he just nodded to the teen before taking off into the forest. Stiles’ words trailing reaching his ears even as he ran.

“Better come back, asshole.”

The wolf couldn’t help but smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love their dynamic so much, the banter between them is so unique, I've never found another ship quite like it.
> 
> Happy holidays!


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! another Monday, another chapter. Hope you like, I touch on a few topics of what happened in season two, let's just say no one is entirely forgiven for their actions yet, Scott least of all. 
> 
> Thanks for the kudos, and comments!

Hunting was easy, natural.

Derek could give himself to his senses and not have to worry about what was around him. At least that’s how it should’ve been and would’ve been, if he didn’t have to worry about possibly getting trapped or killed every couple of feet.

The wolf was glad that they had taken him with just the clothes on his back, there was no way his leather jacket would’ve lasted out here. He’d picked up on the sound of all the wildlife around him with such ease it made him pause, he guessed it was easy when you were stuck in a forest as old as this one.

He stopped running when he decided he was far enough away from Stiles, well as far as he dared to go, he could still hear the teen if he screamed, he just hoped he wouldn’t.

He Stripped off his short sleeved grey Henley with practiced ease and began rolling his shoulders and stretching out his muscles as he toed off his boots and socks. As he breathed in and out slowly, he shut his eyes, he pictured himself in his mind, standing at the forefront of an empty space and his wolf sitting patiently behind as he always was. Even as he pictured this, he knew he and his wolf were one and the same, he only resorted to this technique in certain circumstances like now. If he’d been back at the preserve in his own territory, then he’d have just let his wolf have at it with no problem. But this wasn’t the case, and he had to keep some control in this instance.

Derek stepped aside in his mind and he could feel as well as “see” his wolf move to stand and walk till he was standing right beside him at the forefront.

He crouched next to his other half brushing his bare should up against his wolf’s side, he responded in kind, turning his red eyes towards the man in acknowledgement.

Derek nodded as he let his wolf take control of his body, they were going to work hand in hand on this, in order to care and protect what little of his pack that he had at his side.

His wolf gave out a pleased rumble as Derek opened his eyes to find everything in sharer detail. He knew his eyes were burning red, his beta shift had taken over as soon as he’d “stepped aside”.

The wolf dropped onto all fours easily, digging his claws into the ground, he felt his heckles rise in anticipation of the hunt, he would not come back empty handed.  
____________________  
Noah had so many questions and not enough answers.

He’d woken up to a spotless house and a busy kitchen, almost all the teens who’d stayed the night were there, the others were scattered about his house still cleaning. The other were apparently making breakfast.

Before he could ask anything a cup of coffee was placed in his hands, already fixed up by the looks of it. He frowned down at it before taking a sip and finding it was pretty good, just the way he liked it. He momentarily questioned how they knew this since the only people who knew how he liked his coffee was Stiles, Tara, and himself.

Noah was just about to ask when one of the girls walked up to him, he was pretty sure her name was Erica.

“Breakfast is ready.” She said with a bright smile.

Without waiting for a replay, she ushered him towards the dinning room that had been hardly used since his wife had passed, a pang of sadness shot through him at the thought.

The table was fully set with what his wife had affectionately called a “Big Breakfast”.

Plates pilled high with bacon, sausage, eggs, and toast were scattered here and there, as well as two bowls one filled with breakfast gravy and the other with biscuits. It was way more food then he’d seen in years, and he wondered if they could finish it all, he knew teens could eat seeing as he was raising one. But this was ridicules because as he looked over the table again, he noticed there was two plates of almost everything as well as a couple jars of various fruit jellies.

“Where’d you guys get all this food?” The sheriff questioned; he knew for a fact he didn’t have enough food to feed several teens at least three times over.

“Store.” One of the boys answered as he swiftly moved past him, it was Isaac.

Soon enough several of the ten chairs in his dinning room were filled, leaving three other vacant. The one at the head of the table and one on either side of where the sheriff guessed he was supposed to sit.

Noah pulled the chair out slowly and sat down, all eyes on him. “You know you can sit next to me; I won’t bite.”

A few eyebrows were raised.

“Ah, poor choice of words.” He amended.

“We know it’s just that...” Scott trailed off; he was sitting closest to Noah.

“Let me guess, Stiles,” He gestured to the chair to his left, then to the right. “And Derek?”

There were nods all around, it was only then that he noticed that they weren’t eating, and he voiced his concern not a second later.

“You haven’t told us to.” Boyd spoke up. Noah only knew who he was because he’d met the Boyd’s a few times, under less then pleasant circumstances.

“You have to ask for permission to eat?” Noah questioned, was this what a pack was like?

“Well no, not generally. Derek never cared, but it’s basic instinct. You’re our alpha for now, and we don’t know how it is that you do things, every family and pack do things differently. Also, it’s only polite when you let us stay the night.” Ms. Martin explained, matter-of-factly.

“Well, go ahead. Scott you know you don’t have to ask, and that applies to the rest of you, I guess.” Noah wasn’t surprised when they all dove in. what actually surprised him was when instead of piling their plates with food, they served him first, then themselves.

“this is going to take some getting use too.” He said as he squinted down at his now full plate, Stiles would’ve torn him a new one for even attempting to eat all this. The thought made him smile even as another wave of sadness washed over him.

Noah always hoped that he’d never have to file a missing persons report for his son; it was one of his worst fears and I was the first thing he was going to do when he got to work. Shaking the thought from his head he dove into his food and moved to examine the occupants who were joining him for breakfast. He quickly passed over Scott, Isaac, and Alison. As well as Erica and Boyd. What his eyes settled on where the two people in particular, two teens who he knew didn’t really care for his son.

As if sensing he was staring at them, both teen looked up and met his eyes with a bit of apprehension, more from Ms. Martin, than Whittemore.

“So, are you two just as keen as the others are in finding my son?” He asked, a touch of authority in his voice.

He received a nod from Jackson, and a verbal response from the girl.

“Got to give me more then that. You see, I know my son, I know how he was with you Ms. Martin, once he sets his sights on something, you can be damn sure he won’t let it go-case in point.” He gestured to everyone in the room. “And Whittemore, you’re basically the bane of my son’s existence, so tell me, what’s got you turning over this new leaf, why help my son, when one of you has been nothing but cruel to him since middle school, and the other has blatantly ignored him since they were three?”

The two in question had the decency to look chastised as they fiddled with their forks, the others were exchanging awkward looks, food momentarily forgotten.

“We’re not going to lie, the way we treated Stiles was less then unfair.” Ms. Martin spoke up.

“But things have…changed.” Jackson added.

“Changed how? You’re going to tell me that you suddenly can grow a pair of mutton chops and join a pack, and everything is smooth sailing from here on out? I’m not buying it.” Noah said as he laid his fork down and sat back in his chair.

“Stiles saved my life, all our lives, more then once.” Lydia all but blurted out.

“Explain.” It was more of a demand then a question.

She took a deep breath and began to do just that as her eyes zeroed in on her plate. “It was back during the dance, the only reason I got hurt that night was because I selfishly went looking for Jackson, even though I’d gone to the dance with Stiles. In truth I’d been using him, to get back at Jackson…it’s only now that I see how stupid that was now. I wondered out onto the Lacrosse field hoping I’d find him there, but only found peter, and before I knew it everything had went black.”

“Peter was still mad at the time, out for revenge. So, he used to me against Stiles, who’d gone looking for me just to make sure I was okay. He told Stiles that he’d kill me if he didn’t go with him in order to find Derek. He didn’t hesitate, he got me to Jackson and let peter take him.”

The sheriff mulled her story over in his head, he didn’t care much for the elder Hale, now he had his own spot on the Sheriff’s shit list. He had wondered how it was that Ms. Martin had gotten to the hospital and his son had been nowhere in sight.

“So, this isn’t the first time my son has been kidnapped.”

A few of them shook their heads.

“But it was the only time, till now.” Scott added softly.

“Actually, there was one other time…” Erica spoke up, and when the Sheriff looked at her there was no trace of the overtly confident girl he been seeing since he’d met the girl. Her head was lowered, and she was staring at her lap.

“What do you mean?” Scott questioned, looking confused.

“The game.” Boyd said.

Realization dawned on Noah, the game his son had played in and helped win, then he’d suddenly vanished when the lights cut out, coming home with bruises and a busted lip, claiming the other team had done it to him because they were sore losers.

“Who?” He questioned.

“Gerard, we were leaving, the hunters had us, then they brought in Stiles. He wanted to send a message to you.” Erica hissed out the last word, now glaring eyes at Scott.

“M-me?” Scott sputtered out. “He didn’t tell me anything.”

“And why would he, after what you did?” Boyd said, even though he radiated calm there was an underlying hint of anger.

“Me?! You’re the ones who wanted to leave!” Scott shot back.

“We did, we asked Derek and he was letting us go, unlike you! You acted like pack and the you betrayed Derek! You could’ve told us, hell you could’ve told Stiles! God knows he’d have figured out something that didn’t fuck us all over in the long run!” Erica yelled, nearly wolfing out.

“Enough!” Noah’s voice rang out, making the two wolf immediately shut their mouths, though they continued to glare at each other. “Cleary there are somethings we need to work on and talk through. But I need to ask, Erica, what made you change your mind?”

“Stiles.” She answered, shooting one last glare at Scott before she turned to face the Sheriff, her eyes softening.

“He protected us, even though we’re wolves and can heal from almost everything, he kept the hunter attention on him.” Boyd said, somehow managing to look way calmer than before.

“He made sure they only paid attention to him, because he knew if they switched to us, they would’ve killed us just for simply being. So, he took it, blow after, after blow, while making all those snarky comebacks…just for us. He’s the reason we stayed, why we’re going to do all we can to get him back.”

“How’d you escape?” Isaac asked.

“They let us go.” Boyd said, not wanting to elaborate.

A few moments passed of awkward and tense silence, before Noah returned to his original interrogation.

“And you?” Noah said as he turned his attention to the Whittemore kid.

The boys jaw set at an angle, as if he were loath to answer. “I don’t have a story like Lydia, but he did save my life too, that night when we all got trapped at the school, and back at the hospital, when the hunters were threating to kill Lydia if she turned, and…when I wasn’t myself. Look, Stilinski isn’t my friend, but he isn’t my enemy either, and I owe it to him to try and get him back because I know he’d do it for any one of us. I was too selfish and arrogant to do anything for Isaac, and I’m sorry for that.” He looked up across the table at Isaac as he apologized before continuing. “I’m not saying that everything I did to him and the others is forgotten or forgiven, but if I can do this then maybe, maybe it’s a start.”

The boy’s admission came as a bit of a surprise, and as he looked around, he found similarly shocked face.

The sheriff waited a few seconds before responding. “I can’t fault you for wanting to change-either of you. But that doesn’t make everything you did to my son right. But, admitting what you did wrong and how you plan to change is the first step. Show me that you can change, that you can be better, all werewolf business aside-this goes for the rest of you too-show me that you can change, that you can do what it takes to make yourselves better then what you are now, that you have the strength to protect what’s yours, not just with physical strength either. I may not know much about pack life, but from what Chris and Peter have told me, is that pack is like family, and if that’s true then you’ve all got a lot of things to work on before you get there.”

“Learn to trust yourselves and rely on each other, if what I’ve been told is true then we’re going to need all hands in order to make this work and in order to get these two back.” He gestured to the two vacant chairs. “You guys aren’t alone anymore, you have more then two, maybe three lives to think about now. If you want to do this, and you want to get my son and your alpha home, then we’d better start working on turning your motley crew into a decent pack for Derek to come home too, right?”

When he was done with his unintended speech-Stiles had to get it form someone-he took his time looking over each person, their backs straight and a determined look in their eyes.

“Alright then. Now tonight’s a school night so as soon as your finished, most of you need to head home so you can get ready. I’ll give a ride to whoever needs one. Alison, I’ll be in touch with your dad soon, and which one of you can get ahold of Peter?”

Isaac seem to reluctantly raise his hand. 

“Then I need you to pass on a message.”

After breakfast was finished and everything was cleaned up, the kids had started to prepare to leave while Noah made sure he had everything he needed for work, it was going to be long day.

Scott had all but jumped into his arms once he’d made it downstairs. “We’ll find him.” He’d said as he pressed his face into Noah’s shoulder.

The Sheriff couldn’t help but smile as he patted the teen on his shoulder and nodded. He was startled when Scott had pulled back and he’d got a face full of blonde hair and a quick thank you, then she was gone and someone else was in his arms. Judging by the curly hair and long limbs it was Isaac. Next came Alison and Ms. Martin who didn’t hug him, instead they rested one hand on each of his arms before saying thank as well. Boyd clasped a hand on his shoulder as he walked past Noah from the kitchen and straight out the door, Jackson tried to do the same but his was a bit more awkward.

There was a chorus of goodbyes before they were out the house and the door shut behind them.

Noah pinched the bridge of his nose and just added it to his ever growing list of questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing the sheriff into the pack, it's always so much fun! 
> 
> Hope you guys have a happy new years(if you celebrate it around this time), I'll see you guys next Monday!


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year!
> 
> Hope you guys had a good holiday, I'm glad to finally be home and back to work. The days just drag on to much when you feel like you've nothing to do.
> 
> And that's enough out of me, hope you enjoy the chapter, it was fun to write, I was editing before posting so let me know if lines don't add up anywhere, I may have gone over it a few times, but mistakes can even escape the most keen eye.

Stiles’ ass was numb, and he was covered in sweat again, the joys of heat rising. The only way to tell the passing time was the rising sun, he was now tracing lines in the bark of the tree, trying not to think about just how much time had passed, withdrawal was finally setting in. He wasn’t sure how long it would take for Derek to hunt something down for them but with everything going on…it was easy to picture the hunter getting the jump on Derek, capturing him, and forcing him to the ground just before they-Stop! He couldn’t afford to think like that, anything could trigger another panic attack and that would be bad for a multitude of reasons, Derek would be back soon, even though a small part of him said he probably wouldn’t.

Stiles had managed to keep his thoughts as calm as he could by thinking up possible scenario’s of how they’d get home, it was difficult though, his Adderall was wearing off and he could literally feel the symptoms of withdrawal kicking in. He was beyond tired at this point, fatigue, exhaustion-you name it, he was feeling it. His senses were muddled, his focus waning more and more as time seemed to drag on, without Derek to mentally latch onto, everything was becoming a distraction, from the rustling leaves and branches, to the distant sounds of birds and wildlife scattered about the forest but also within earshot. It was going to be a real bitch suffering through all this and the withdrawal from his meds, but there was nothing he could do but get through it.

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

The echo of his dad’s words rang through his head and he couldn’t help but smile to himself, there wasn’t anything that was going to stop him from getting home to his dad, one way or another Stiles would find his way back to him.

He made sure to weave Derek’s plan into his own as well, majority of his plans had the least amount of risks-well it had about the same as the rest but his made it so they weren’t caught, that they’d put up a fight for as long as they could. So, he kept at it, turning them over in his head till he could think of every possible scenario out there and only when he was sure he’d worked out every kink and detail would he share it with Derek.

Movement in the distance made him still, being so high up had its advantages, but that didn’t mean he could be careless. He held his breath as he watched a figure make their way through the tree, it was a completely different direction the Derek had gone, so maybe they were out of luck?

The teen sighed in relief when the wolf in question came walking towards him, fully clothed and a bit bloody. That made Stiles a little squeamish, but hey maybe it meant food. Their eyes meet when Derek was about fourteen feet away, and without any indication, Stiles began making his way down the branches, if there was anything he was good at it was climbing trees, that and scaling the side of the McCall house so he could get to Scotts room without bothering Melissa. The thought of Scott made him pause between branches, so he was sort of crouched on one like Spider-Man. That’s why he’d gone to visit Derek at the abandoned depot, he wanted the whole story and of course he couldn’t get ahold of Scott, so he went to the next best thing, which should’ve been his first choice, now that he thought about it. 

They’d been arguing-which wasn’t new-Derek had accused him of helping Scott with his plan and Stiles had just got through telling him that he’d had no idea what Scott had planned, and that he’d been in the dark just as much as Derek had. Then, something sharp and painful had stuck him in the neck, making the world tilt sideways. Before he knew it, he was on the ground and the sound of fighting reached his ears, the last thing he’d heard was the sound of a train roaring as it passed. Now Stiles realized that the “train” he’d heard had been Derek’s roar…and it made him wonder if he’d been the reason, they’d both been captured.  
Pressure on his ankle snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked down to see Derek had hoisted himself up in order to reach him, Stiles hadn’t been that far from the ground when he’d stopped his decent. He looked down at to see that Derek was effortlessly hold himself up with one arm while his other reached for him, his hand lightly squeezing his ankle. Derek’s eyebrows asking if everything was okay, Stiles frowned down at him-why do wolves get to have all the fun-and nodded before he continued down. The wolf barley made a sound when he landed, Stiles on the other hand did, leaves and twigs cracked underfoot, it was far less graceful but hey, he landed on his feet.

When Stiles looked at Derek, the man was frowning at him. Either it was because of the noise he made, or it was because he was still concerned about why Stiles had stopped earlier. The teen moved to verbally answer, but the wolf held up his hand to stop him and gestured to his ears. Stiles interpreted easily, hunters were around, far enough away that they didn’t have to worry much, but close enough that they couldn’t make much noise. The teen huffed in irritation, didn’t Derek know how hard it was for him to hold his tongue, what was he talking about of course he knew. Stiles would just have to suck it up and wait till later because he still had a few things to say to Derek regarding his accusations the other day. The wolf gestured for Stiles to follow, and they began walking back the way he’d came earlier, hopefully it wasn’t too long a walk.  
_______________________  
The Sheriff walked at decent pace from his car and up to the old Hale house, or what was left of it. It looked as though Derek had decided on some sort of construction project, either he was tearing it down for good or making way for something new, but in this state Noah couldn’t tell. Most of it had been stripped bare save for a few support beams here and there, and the chard staircase the must of lead to a second floor that was no longer there. He still remembered the day of the fire, he was only deputy then, but Noah along with a few others counted it as one of the worst days they had even been through, Laura and Derek had been so young then.

He wondered for a moment, what she would’ve been like now, was she full of life? Energetic like his son? Or was she as serious and as hurt as Derek was? There was no doubt in his mind that she’d have been the leader these kids needed, being born to this as Peter had told him. That she was being groomed to take over once she was old enough, he guessed she of had a handle on this whole situation, no problem. But he also guessed that even if she had almost all the answers, she still would’ve appreciated and needed the help.

Gathered in front of the house was everyone who needed to be here but were rather reluctant. Argent was busy standing at a collapsible table, various things he couldn’t make out were scattered all over it. As he got closer he recognized a few weapons, a couple of handguns and a few crossbows, but there were things he couldn’t recognize, like what looked to be an oversized flashlight that ended in a sharp point like it was used to stab something, or maybe it was something you put in the ground, like those light up things you put in your garden that ran on solar power. There were also two clear containers off to the side, one filled with purple flowers and the other was a green plant with white bulbs on it, they kind of look like barriers, but Noah didn’t know of any barriers that were white.  
“So, what do we have here?” Noah asked after he was through with his examination.

“Well, I talked to the kids they told him that Derek has been training them mostly in combat-the wolves that is, minus Scott. I figured they could use a crash course in what can and can’t kill you would be a good start for them.” Chris explained as pulled the two containers towards him and gestured for everyone to gather round.

Peter made it there first, but that was because he was closer, it took a bit longer for all the teens to get there.

Noah frowned at Peter before retuning his attention Chris as he picked up one of the handguns, it was standard, like the one that was strapped to his side; he’d purposely came in uniform for this. It made it easier for people-in this case unruly teenagers-to listen to him when he wore it. “These gun’s loaded?”

“Yeah, why?” Argent questioned.

“Lethal or non-lethal?” Noah Questioned.

“Non-lethal to Werewolves.” The hunter responded with a raised brow.

“Good.” Was all the sheriff said as released the safety, cocked it, aimed, and fired one bullet at Peter.

The bullet cut clean through.

Noah watched as Peter hit the ground; his nice clean white shirt was slowly being covered in blood. “Kidnap my son again, and I’ll make sure you stay buried for good.”

Peter sat up, groaning and clutching his side. “Noted.”

Not giving him a second thought, or comment. Noah turned to find seven teens staring at him in a mix of shock, horror, and a maybe even a little bit of awe. “Playtime is over kids; you remember what I told you a few days ago? It’s time to work, so we can get those two home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what'd you think? that scene with the Sheriff shooting Peter had been playing in my head constantly, and I was just trying to figure out when and where to put it, this seemed like the best spot. Plus it filled me with glee to see Peter get some much needed reprimanding-and there's more to come for him and others in the future!
> 
> See you guys next week! Love you!


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, happy Monday!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed your weekend, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Stiles could count on his hand how many times he’d seen Derek look like shit, when he had a wolfbane bullet in his arm, after he killed his uncle, when said uncle came back from the dead, and after that whole fiasco with Gerard and Jackson. It’s only been like two weeks since that happened, and now it feels like it’s been years ago. The teen shook his head, he wondered when he would finally become jaded towards hunters and their holier-than-thou-goals, he’s pretty sure that after this, nothing any of the other hunters would do will surprise him anymore…not after going through something like this; this might take the cake.

Anyway, back to Derek. He looked like shit, and Stiles was pretty sure he had no room to talk, in fact he probably looked worse, though the blood drying in Derek’s scruff gave him an almost unhinged look. If Stiles had just run into Derek looking like this, he’s pretty sure he’d have turned tail and ran-that or call his dad and have him arrested…again. The thought almost made the teen laugh, almost.

Following Derek was becoming easier as they went on, he wasn’t sure if he was growing use to walking in an overgrown forest, or If the wolf had chosen to take the easier path so Stiles wouldn’t strain himself. Either way he was grateful, for all Derek’s faults and short comings he had the potential to be a good alpha, maybe even a great one, like his mom had been, or his sister Laura would’ve been.

He felt Derek’s eyes on him, no doubt picking up on the shift in Stiles’ moods, it was getting harder and harder for him to keep his mind on track, but what could he do? He’d just have to find some way to cope or get a handle on his ADHD, he had a sharp mind sure, but you know, tangents.

“What’s wrong?” Derek said gruffly.

Stiles flinched slightly, after sitting for so long with nothing but the sound of the forest, Derek’s voice had startled him, sounding almost foreign to his ears.

“To much time to think about things.” The teen responded.

Derek nodded in understanding. “To many things to focus on.”

Stiles was taken a back; how did he know what Stiles was going through? Yeah sure you could look up everything and anything on ADHA, but it sounded like he understood what it was like, could wolves even get ADHD?

“When we’re dropped into a new environment-I guess you could say our senses go haywire, too much to focus on at once can make us flighty and agitated. It’s a lot like what you go through, in order to keep some control, we have to try our best to focus on one thing at a time-I know it’s not the same for you but maybe we could try something?” Derek said as he stepped over a slightly uprooted tree.

“I’m willing to try anything, I mean I know there are still things we need to talk about but if you think you’ve got something that can help focus a bit more I’m game, though I tend to get hyper focused form time to time.” Stiles said with a small smile.

“The last thing we need is that, it comes in handy with research and helps with attention to detail but we don’t need that, just enough to get you through the days.” Derek responded as he surveyed his surroundings, Stiles unconsciously doing the same.

“Yeah, you’re right about that-wait did I just agree with you?” The teen questions.

Derek smirks, and the blood coating his mouth making him look straight-up maniacal.

Stiles couldn’t help a huff of amusement. “Don’t let it go to your head, big guy.”

The scent of smoke reaches Stiles’ nose after a few more minutes of walking, on reflex he pauses wondering what’s up a head. Derek catches his hesitation and motions him to keep walking. The teen keeps close to Derek, even if the wolf says it’s okay, he’s still going to be weary.

They walk a little further and Stiles catches sight of smoldering embers, and over those ember, hanging on a makeshift fireplace spit, were two ah skewered animal carcasses? Stiles isn’t sure what they are considering they’ve both been skinned and gutted, and he really doesn’t want to think about anything being skinned or gutted. His stomach betrayed him in the next second by growling so loudly he was pretty sure every hunter in forest heard it.

Derek chuckled beside him, and walked over to the fire, blatantly ignoring the teen dirty look.

The wolf looked up at him from where he was examining their food. “You coming, or not?”

“what about the smoke?” He questions, it was basically a huge ‘I’M OVER HERE’ sign to any hunter with eyes during the day.

“The forest is pretty thick in some parts, and even though you can’t tell from down here, above the trees it really windy. By the time the smoke reaches the past the trees, what’s left will be swept away buy the wind, it why I made the fire so small, it’s strong enough to cook but not large enough to draw attention.” The wolf explained as he began using his claws to cut into their food.

Stiles began to move forward, eyeing what was to be their meal critically. “What are we eating anyway?” He was pretty sure he was going to regret that question.

“Rabbit, good for protein and good for now, till I can hunt us something bigger.” Derek explained.

Stiles bit his lip in apprehension, he really didn’t want to eat Thumper, but he trusted Derek and now wasn’t the time to be squeamish or picky. So, when Derek offered him a piece, he took it gladly.  
_____________________  
The full moon was tomorrow, and they were as far from prepared as they could be. The sheriff mused inwardly, it had taken two days after Noah had shot Peter for Chris’s people to get back to him, on just who took his son. That meant that Stiles as well as Derek had been missing for almost a whole week now, they were officially classified as missing by the department.

When Chris had got the information he needed, Noah had called for a pack meeting, which still felt strange to say, everyone had shown up, even Melissa, how she’d found time to get away from work, he didn’t know. Things had been going well since Noah had taken the reigns, figuring which teen excelled at what when it came to combat or evasion tactics, the teens provided variety and in due time they could have all the bases covered. But for all their advances there were still setbacks, fights broke out, the Whittemore boy had walked off more than once, and there was the huge gapping hole in the pack that even Noah could pick up on, even though he wasn’t a wolf. He had a feeling that things wouldn’t properly come together till they got the boys back here.

Chris was the last to arrive, with Alison in tow. The expression on his face was the exact one he didn’t want to see.

“I’ve got good news and bad news.” The hunter says with a grim look.

“No use in dragging it out, rip it off like band-aid.” Melissa said firmly.

Noah couldn’t help but smile, he didn’t know what he’d do without her forwardness.

“These hunters call themselves the renegades, they’re not part of any well-known family like ours. But they’ve been around for about seven years. They make their reputation on ‘hunting the old-fashioned way’ as they call it. In my opinion they’re no worse than Gerard, scratch that, they might be a little worse. They hunt for sport, crisscrossing this whole continent kidnapping wolves and anything else they can get their hands on. They’ve managed to stay under the radar of the hunter council by avoiding huge pack territories and prominent hunter families, news of what’s going on here in Beacon Hills spread like wildfire and must have reached them. Normally they stick to nabbing lone betas, feral omegas, or the odd creature they come across, but they must have gotten the idea that they could score big by bagging an alpha, or maybe they just wanted something to hunt, the rarer the creature the more they risk to get their hands on them. They do this yearly, every summer when traveling picks up, so they go unnoticed.”

“These people don’t joke around, from what I’ve gathered they made some place up north their hunting grounds so to speak, once they’ve got their package secure, they take it their and set them loose so they can hunt them down. They make a game of it, of who can catch and or kill it first.”

“That’s like seven different kinds of twisted.” Isaac said, a look of horror on his face.

“You said up north, I’m guessing you mean passed the border. How did they get passed border patrol?” Noah questions.

“They’ve got connections, with who I don’t know, but whoever they are they like to keep a low profile, so if everything falls apart, those hunters won’t be able to point fingers.” Chris explained gruffly.  
“you said that the rarer the creature the better for them, so you mean people like me and Jackson, right?” Lydia questioned.

“We can’t say who they came here for, all that matter to them was getting something to hunt, we don’t know if they were short on time, or if they were really after Derek, who’s to say which is right?” Chris answered as honestly as he could.

“So, what’s the good news?” Melissa asked.

“The good news, is that these hunts can go on for weeks depending on what their hunting.” Chris said.

“How is that good news?” Scott questioned; his face painted with concern.

Lydia’s smiled; it was all sharp edges. “If there’s anyone who can beat those odds it’s Stiles, you’ve seen how he works firsthand Scott, he’ll put those hunters through hell that’s for sure.”

“And my nephew is no push over either, I’ve seen the two of them work together and besides all the pointless arguing, they make a perfect, if not deadly team,” Peter added with a sly grin.

“So, what you’re saying is that we’ve got time on our side?” Noah questioned, because that’s what he wanted to hear, the longer someone was missing meant there was a higher chance of them not coming home, and if they did, it wasn’t alive. In this case apparently it meant that the longer Stiles was gone, the higher chance he had at surviving those maniacs and coming home, and there was more time to work out a plan to save them.

Chris smiled for the first time since he arrived. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't come up with a good name for them, so if you guys got any good ideas, send them to me!
> 
> Anyway, that's it for this week, I'll see you guys again next week!
> 
> Love you!


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Happy Monday, I know it's a little late in the day, but cleaning day landed on today, so that's what was keeping me from updating sooner.
> 
> It's the full moon! I'm so excited for this chapter, I hope you like it, over 3000 words!

The night of the full moon had been; for lack of a better word, insane. 

Chris had warned them about the full moon, what to expect with having at least four betas with little to no control, and no alpha to keep them in line. But Peter had given them all a little extra insight, now that Noah was in the know, they’d all explained what had actually happened last month when he’d come home to living room full of passed out teens, at the time he’d been worried that maybe the kids had gotten wasted or high, and didn’t want to go home and suffer the consequences of angry parents/guardians. Now that he knew the truth, he found it almost comical that he would’ve preferred hung over teens to moon crazed ones. Peter had informed them that this moon was also a supermoon, but unlike last month it wasn’t a blood moon as well, which they were lucky for. Sadly, that’s where their luck ended seeing as this was the strongest supermoon of the year, meaning that even Scott was going to struggle with his control.

Peter and Chris had devised a plan the day before, seeing as that Derek wasn’t here, they couldn’t let the kids run around unchecked and unsupervised.  
So, they decided that they would chain up Derek’s main three, and as an extra precaution they’d line the area with mountain ash. Scott and Jackson were allowed to roam free inside the barrier, seeing as Scott had the most control and Jackson was a special case all on his own. Peter had chosen to trap himself inside with them, saying that’d it help-if only barley-that they had a wolf who knew control there with them, plus the three closes to Derek were going to be running on instinct alone, so the fact that he sort of smelled like Derek should help them.

The night of, they had all gathered at the abandoned train station, after forensics had gathered all they could from the scene and Derek’s car had been towed to the impound for safe keeping, and Stiles’ jeep had been driven back to the sheriffs house, there was no need to steer clear of the area. Noah let the wolves lead him to where Derek had been ‘living’ for the better part of two months, with Isaac. Noah was about to comment about it, but then he remembered that Derek as well as any beta he’d created had been hunted for over the past four months, they wouldn’t have been able to live anywhere obvious, and even for all his hard work two of his three betas had been kidnapped and had also asked to leave out of fear for their lives. Noah understood them, Derek’s need to protect what little he had left, the kids fear and need to survive, and it just made his resolve all the more stronger to help them, he was still weary of Peter and found Deaton to be an acquired taste, he was pretty sure Stiles found the doctor’s knack for being cryptic down right annoying and possibly infuriating. Which he found he was right when he mentioned it to Isaac.

So, here they were; just before sunset; in an abandoned train station; locking up five wolves for the night. And extra couch had been brought in for who knows where. Peter was busy restraining Isaac, Erica, and Boyd with some heavy-duty chains. While Chris was busy putting up the mountain ash barrier, Allison and Lydia had insisted on staying, Lydia because she could help reangle in Jackson if the need arose, and Allison was going to be in charge of defusing any fights if they got out of hand.

Noah had brought one of Stiles sweaters at Peter’s request, all the man said was that scent would help, that weather those kids knew it or not, Stiles was way more important then they realized. He’d left the lightly used sweater hanging on one of the fold up chairs inside the barrier. While Peter had brought Derek’s leather jacket and a duffel bag, he placed both on the same chair, which he understood a lot more then bringing one of Stiles’ old red sweater.

The beginning had been smooth, everyone was secured. Erica was complaining about being locked up, Jackson was lounging on the extra couch, while Peter was leaning against one of the train cars, all the doors had been closed and also lined with ash. Scott was busy pacing the length of the barrier occasionally making eyes at Allison, weather the girl noticed and was blatantly ignoring the poor boy or hadn’t noticed at all, Noah didn’t know.

Then it was like someone had flipped a switch, Erica had stopped complaining, and Scott had stopped pacing, that was all the warning they’d gotten till one of them had started growling, he wasn’t sure who it was till Erica had started pulling against her restraints-fully shifted, he wasn’t sure if it was her agitation or the moon-maybe both-but she had triggered the other two beside her. All of them in full beta shift; all of them pushing, pulling, and shoving against their restraints and each other. Peter was quick to move in front of them, trying his best to placate them, encouraging them to use their anchors.

Boyd and Erica were fairing a bit better then Isaac was, proof of that showed when he managed to break free of his chains, which in turn gave the other two the strength or encouragement they needed to also break free. All three ran, colliding with the barrier seconds later, growling and howling in frustration at being trapped again. Peter and Jackson moved to intercept Isaac who was starting to pace, growing more and more frustrated with not being able to get out, while Erica and Boyd turned their attention to Scott. Noah could see the hostility between them, and he wished he had more time to sort out the mess between them, but after everything that had been going on this past week, he hadn’t had the time to try and get to know them better in a few one-on-one sessions.

Both wolves dove for Scott and before the sheriff could blink Alison had let loose an arrow that exploded on impact, blinding everyone with a sharp bright light. Noah was seeing spots for a few seconds. When his eyes finally adjusted, Scott was crouched down, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes, while Erica and Boyd were on the far side of the barrier doing the same thing.

They all seemed to calm down a bit after that, Isaac was curled up on the couch next to Jackson, clutching onto Derek’s jack for dear life, making those high-pitched whining noises the he didn’t even know werewolves were capable off. Erica had commandeered Stiles’ sweater for her own, somehow managing to slip the hoodie on without tearing it to ribbons with her claws. She hugged herself and also began making those same noises, joining Isaac on the couch, all three huddled together on the couch and Boyd decided to sit at their feet, his back pressing against their legs.

Scott had decided to keep his distance, now sitting where he’d been crouched before, his back against the barrier. Peter seemed to find his place as a sort of barrier between Scott and the other betas, now he was leaning against a train car that was farther from the pack, but closer to Scott, maybe he was trying to act as a mediator?

Noah was about to approach Scott when both Chris and Allison stopped him.

“He looks like he could use someone to talk too.”

“That may be, but he won’t listen, at least not now, his mind is clouded by the moon. You could say something and mean one thing and he’ll take it another way.” Chris said as he moved to sit with them. The girls were occupying the same couch which left the foldable chairs to him and Chris.

“So, there’s no use trying, especially with the moon being this strong, you could set them all off and they might all try to kill each other.” Allison said as she rested her compound bow on an old coffee table.  
“So, while we’re here, why don’t you tell me what happened between you and the others? They treat you just as bad as they treat Scott, why?” Noah inquired, if he couldn’t get to the betas first, he could start here.  
Her face grew grim, before she sighed heavily and retold everything she’d been through. With Kate trying to manipulate her, her grandfather who nearly sent her over the edge when her mother had killed herself, just so she wouldn’t change. How she took out her anger, sadness, and frustration out on Boyd and Erica and nearly tuned them into pincushions. To finally figuring out that her grandfather had twisted the story and, in her grief-induced haze she had believed him, and that she knew she had a long way to go before they could even think about forgiving her for everything she’d done.

Noah nodded solemnly and glanced over at Chris who looked like he was two seconds from falling apart. Not even a second later he was out of his seat and over at his daughter’s side, pulling her up from where she sat on the couch and into his arms.

Chris was speaking softly to her, but Noah could still make out the words. “I’m sorry, I should’ve been there for you. If I’d have been there and not off trying to keep your grandfather busy, I would-I could’ve been there, could’ve kept him from poisoning you with his words, I’m so sorry sweetie.”

“Dad, you can’t take all the blame, you lost mom too. We didn’t know what would’ve happened, what grandpa, or mom would’ve done if we’d have intervened.” Allison said, trying to sooth her father’s worries.

“I could’ve stopped her, I was there…and I let her-“ His voice cracked, and Noah felt an old ache inside, that same pain he got when he thought about Claudia-god Claudia what would she think right now? How would she be handling all this? Probably with as much grace and stubbornness as their son had, she would’ve taken all of this head-on and wouldn’t thinking twice, just like Stiles. The thought almost made him laugh, she had been a whirlwind of activity just like their son was. He supposed that’s why they were good together, she’d always been the free type, doing what she pleased whenever she wanted. It had been Noah’s job to make sure she didn’t get out of hand, or that she kept her feet on the ground, it hadn’t been easy, but they made it work. Their son, however, was a different story. He seemed to gain his late wife’s attitude about doing what he wanted when he wanted, but it had mixed with Noah’s mind when it came to solving things, add that to his son’s innate lack of discretion and now his apparent lack of self-preservation skills and he was a lot to handle. That’s not to say he didn’t love his son, he loved Stiles with every part of his being, even when he’d kept secrets from him, even when he understood why Stiles had chosen to keep those secrets. They would have a lot to work on when he got his son back, and he honestly couldn’t wait for it.

“It’s okay dad.” Allison repeated over and over as she moved her father away from them, and out of the train station for a proper moment alone.

Noah turned his attention to Ms. Martin, there was a sadness in her eyes and a bit of longing, Noah knew about her parents and it was safe to say that he didn’t like the way they used their daughter to spite one another, in a small town like this word got around fast, he didn’t like rumors, payed little attention to them. But he always made sure to keep an ear and an eye out for rumors about parents and their kids, you never know how much of it is true, but if everything falls apart then you at least have some idea as to what was going on.

“You know Stiles was the first person to believe in me?” She spoke up, her eyes distant.

“What do you mean?” Noah inquired, he knew his son had had unhealthy obsession with the redhead, but to find out even with that he still chose to stand beside her when she needed it was interesting.  
“I hid how smart I really was for long time, to please others for the wrong reasons. He was the first to figure it out, before my teachers or my parents, it was him. Even when I thought I was going insane after I got bit, he helped me figure it out. He helped me figure out what I was and possibly who I could be.” She smiled softly as her eyes focused on him. “He may have trouble focusing, but he’s the only one I know that could give me a run for my money at being top student at Beacon.”

Noah raised a brow at her last statement, he wasn’t questioning his son’s intellect, he knew his boy was smarter then even himself, but from what he gathered about Ms. Martin from what the others suggested was that she was scary smart. For her to compare his son to herself academic wise was high praise, it was also making him rethink just how smart his son was and if maybe, he could help with keeping him on track with his studies.

“I’m sure he’d be over the moon if you said that to him.” Noah said with a small chuckle.

“Hmm, maybe not, lately his attention is being drawn elsewhere.” She said with a coy smile, like she knew something the rest of them didn’t, and knowing her she probably did.

“What do you mean by that?” He questioned as he leaned in closer, his son rarely let things go, case in point, it had to be something or someone of unique interest to pull his son away from his lifelong love interest, and if it was romantically so, then he really wanted to know.

She opened her mouth to speak, but then her head whipped to the side. In the direction of where the wolves were being kept. The four that had taken up residences on the couch were all staring at Peter. Said man was staring back with a single raised brow, they seemed to be having some silent conversation.

All of a sudden, they were all on their feet even Jackson, and making their way over to the older beta. Peter had moved from his spot against the train to face them, all their eyes were glowing, only Erica and Isaac seemed to be stuck in their beta shift forms. The four of them fanned out around Peter in semi-circle, cutting off any way to escape, though if the man wanted to, he wouldn’t get very far.

Noah stood from his seat, trying to think of what he was going to do in order to defuse the situation that was building, he couldn’t shoot a crossbow, but maybe a warning shot?

“Don’t,” Chris was back, “Let them be.”

“I don’t like Hale as much as the next guy, but you seriously want to let these kids rip him apart?” Noah questioned the hunter as he made his way back towards them, Allison right behind them. Both of them looked better, beside the puffy eyes and red cheeks they carried themselves as if they’d lifted a weight of their shoulders.

“they’re not going to rip him apart…much.” Chris said as watched the betas watch Peter.

“What do you mean?” Lydia questioned.

“Peter has been helping the pack since he helped Derek take down Jackson when he was a Kanima. Slowly but surely, he’s been making his way back into the pack, but it’s ultimately the pack decision on whether they want him in the pack after all he’s done.” The hunter explained.

“So, they’re going to test him?” Noah asked.

“Yeah, something like that. If he passes, he’ll be apart of the Hale pack once again. Even though he’s the oldest and the strongest, he’ll have to start from the bottom and work his way up and through the pack, it won’t be cake walk and it won’t happen overnight.”

“And if he fails?” The sheriff wondered aloud.

“He’ll either die or become an Omega.” Chris said it as if he were signing Peter’s death warrant-which he kind of was.

Isaac was the first to move, being Derek’s first proper bitten gave him certain privileges. His claws racked across Peter’s abdomen, diagonally from his left hip up to his right shoulder. Peter tensed but didn’t move to retaliate or defend himself.

Then it was Boyd, the hulking man took a swipe at Peter’s left shoulder then down to his bicep, blood soaking his shirt worse then the wounds across his torso. Erica dove for his right side, her claws leaving behind deep and angry crevices in the man’s body.

Peter grunted, his hand moving to cover the wound the she-wolf had just left behind. Jackson was last, the wound he inflicted on Peter mirrored Isaacs. His claws cut from Hale’s left shoulder and down to his right hip. Peter seemed to be fighting with himself, shaking his head sharply as his body kept changing from human to beta, it was like something out of a horror movie, in Noah’s opinion.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Peter groaned and one of his knees buckled, his features had returned to human. Still clutching his side, he hunched over in front of the betas.

No one moved, Noah wanted to know what the hell had just happened, he ran an anxious hand through his hair, a habit he developed over the years and one his son had picked up from him.

Again, it looked as if there was some silent conversation going on, then Isaac moved forward. Noah thought the teen was going to finish the job when instead he placed his hand on Hale’s uninjured bicep. The sheriff could just make out black lines flowing across his forearm. Peter moved to grasp the teens wrist, but he didn’t look up. The others joined in, placing their hands on him; making sure to avoid any wounds they’d inflicted.

What happened next threw the Sheriff for a loop, he watched as Peter rose from where he’d been kneeling and moved through the betas-all their eye’s glowing-and over to his duffle bag, he discarded his shirt which was torn to ribbons. All his wounds were practically healed, Hale had just barley been able to get his new shirt on before he was swarmed by the four young wolves and promptly taken down. They all seemed keen on making Peter their pillow for the night, the man didn’t complain, in fact his seemed okay with becoming a pillow for four overgrown teens.

Noah frowned as he watched them settle. “Is it always going to be like that?”

“No, Peter is a special case, which mean’s his test is different, same thing with Scott, though he won’t have his till Derek return’s. Scott slighted the alpha so that’s where it has to start, he can try and get on the beta’s good side all he wants, but he won’t be truly welcomed in till Derek lets him.” Chris explained as he reclaimed his old seat.

As he said those words Noah looked back over to where the teen was, Scott had inched closer to the pile of wolves, looking like he wanted to join in. He was about five feet away when one of them growled and he froze. Not wanting to push his luck, the teen hunkered down where he was at and stayed there.

“I don’t envy Derek.” Noah said with a sigh.

“It’s not supposed to be like this, in truth, they’re suppose to be out and running through Beacon’s forests all night.” Chris said with a weary smile.

“I wonder if Derek’s doing any better.” Allison said aloud, no one answered her.

Noah silently wondered that too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped you liked it, Derek's and Stiles' full moon will be posted next week!
> 
> I'll see you guys next week! :D


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what, I don't think it's fair to post one half without the other! so here's the other half!

Derek wasn’t a big fan of luck; it was never on his side. If it had been, a lot of shit that happened in his life could’ve been stopped, prevented or never happened to begin with. Even with Stiles by his side their luck was going to run out, especially since he could feel the moon rising.

  
Safe to say he was right, after they had eaten, Derek had set them on the path that lead north, he was keen on sticking to his plan. Occasionally Derek would guide them to a small source of water so Stiles could get his fill, then they’d rest for a bit and continue on, they did this for about two days. They were fortunate enough not to run into any trouble or traps.

  
He hunted small animals for them; He’d clean whatever he caught just like his parents had taught him so long ago. Derek made sure to do it well away from the curious eyes of his lone human pack member, he knew how Stiles was with the sight of blood. 

  
Throughout those days Derek would do his best to keep the teens mind occupied, by making him use some of his senses when they took breaks, Stiles had complained at first but as the hours dragged on, it seemed to help with his restlessness. Usually just before they decided to stop for the night Stiles would ask him to repeat an exercise they’d done before. Derek wondered if the teen did it to help with his focus, or maybe it was to help him relax just enough to get what little sleep they could afford. The wolf figured that he was using it as a means to avoid talking to each other, there was a lot between them they still needed to work through, and Stiles didn’t seem set on speaking first…which was strange since he rarely shut up to begin with. Derek knew that if they were going to start working together-properly, that he was most likely going to be the one to bite the bullet.

  
The sun had begun set on their fifth day when Derek had picked the sound of a heartbeat that wasn’t their own, it didn’t belong to any animal, it was to steady and slow.

  
The wolf paused making the human behind him pause as well. 

  
They were pretty far away, and it was only one, which set him on edge even more.

He heard something pop and not a second later he gripped Stiles’ shirt and shoved him backwards. The ground broke apart close to where Stiles had been standing. Not hesitating Derek grabbed ahold of the teens arm and ran in the opposite direction of the shooter, practically dragging Stiles behind him.

  
“Derek!” Stiles shouted from behind him, trying to get his attention, but the wolf kept running.

  
“DEREK!” The teen yelled louder, making the older man jerk to a stop.

  
He looked behind him and saw that Stiles was panting heavily, his heels digging into the ground beneath them. Looking even farther behind he could make out gashes in the earth where the teen must have dug his feet in, attempting to stop the wolf from moving any further.

  
“Stiles, we can’t wait for them to catch up to us!” Derek hissed in frustration.

  
“Okay, would you stop and think for a second?! I know you a little off with the moon rising, and your instincts are all over the place, but I need you to focus okay?” Stiles bit out as he wrestled his arm from Derek’s hold, then he cupped the wolfs face in his hands, making sure he had all his attention.

  
“That, back there,” He said as he gestured behind him. “That wasn’t a warning shot, okay. It was botched. They aimed in my general direction purposely so you’d take initiative and protect the only pack member you have with you, they’re herding us, playing on your instincts so we’d run right into their trap, they want to get us before the moon rises, it’ll be harder for them to take you down once that happens They want the thrill, but they know if they drag it out to long things could go to shit real quick.”

  
Derek’s jaw visibly clenched, he was mentally berating himself for his lack of fore thought, everything was so jumbled up in his head, and it was only making his wolf all the more agitated. In order to regain some semblance of control, he began focusing on his hearing, trying to pick up any heartbeats nearby.

  
He relaxed just a little when he couldn’t find any, which must mean they had laid a trap and like Stiles had said; they expected them run right into it so they could come by later and pick them off, if they were still alive by then, that is. Or they were still a ways ahead of them, waiting for them to run blindly through, and right into their clutches.

  
Derek pulled away from Stiles, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to quell his frustration, he rarely let his instincts take control like that, how the hell was he supposed to keep them both safe, he needed to get a handle on himself quickly or they were both going to suffer for it, things would be so much easier if he had the rest of the pack. It wasn’t to say that Stiles was useless or not as good as the rest of the pack, he’d make a great beta, any pack would be lucky to have him. It was only then that he realized he begun pacing back and forth, and the only reason that was because Stiles had grabbed ahold of his hand, making him pause and look towards the younger man.

  
“Hey, it’s okay.” The teen said with an amused huff. “We’re just lucky my annoying voice was strong enough to get through your thick head.”

  
Derek couldn’t help but roll his eyes, this was no time for jokes. But even now, Stiles had the power to cut through his anger and frustration with just a few words. Which threw him off in a different way, ever since that night at the pool, things had changed between them. He hadn’t figured out how, because there were still shifts happening in their relationship, things kept changing before they’d have a chance to settle. He hade no time to think about it then or now with everything that was going on, but he wanted to figure it out sooner rather than later.

  
“You’re not that annoying.” He said before he could stop himself. He regretted saying anything as soon as he saw that impish smile spread across his face, it always meant trouble for anyone around Stiles.

  
“what was that? Did the Derek Hale just say I wasn’t that annoying? Did your heart just grow three sizes? Or did we just end up lost in the kingdom of OZ, it’d make more sense if it was that because that’s the only way The Derek Hale would ever give a compliment to anyone, much less me. Should I click my heels together three times saying, “there’s no place like home,” Just to see if this is a dream?” Stiles rambled on, just for the sake of annoying the older man.

  
“Shut up, Stiles.” Derek growled out between his teeth.

  
“And there’s the Sourwolf I know, and mildly respect.”

  
The wolf’s shoulders visibly dropped as he glared at the teen.

  
Stiles was full on grinning now, his tongue flicked out to wet his lips before his teeth racked over the bottom one, the grin never quite going away. It was hardly a second later when Stiles doubled over in laughter. Derek looked up towards the sky, of course he’d get stuck with someone who didn’t act normal in a life and death situation…well Stiles did have a strange lack of self-preservation. He lowered his eye back down to the teen, who was still laughing. He supposed though, that there really wasn’t anyone else he’d rather be stuck with. The wolf turned slightly away from Stiles so the younger man wouldn’t see him smiling at the thought.

  
“We should get moving before your obnoxious laughter gets us caught, I’m pretty sure every hunter within a mile radius heard you cackling like a mad man.” Derek huff out, walking away from the teen.  
“Oh, he does have jokes, not as much of a Sourwolf as I thought.” Stiles said from behind him, a chuckle escaping him every now and again.

  
Derek didn’t bother to give him a response, instead he focused on where he was walking. There was no use in picking a direction to go in. Once word spread about their location, the rest of the hunters would converge on them. It didn’t help that the terrain was becoming more rocky and uneven.

  
Stiles was doing his best not to let on how exhausted he was or that the pain he was feeling was growing as the hours and days passed. In time his body would grow accustomed to being this active, but for now it was a hinderance that Stiles was trying to ignore and push through. They wouldn’t get far if Stiles burned himself out now when they still had a long way to go.

  
The incline began to change as they walked and without a second thought Derek reached back to take Stiles’ hand. It made things easier for the both of them, he guided the younger man in his steps and Stiles was grateful he didn’t have to worry about his lack of night vision as it grew darker.

  
The one thing he didn’t account for was that the moon was going to reach it apex sooner then he originally thought, if he were back in Cali, he’d have at least a few more hours before then. But the farther north they went the more the days would change, it was slow, but he was sure they were getting shorter. Either way he had about an hour left before he felt the full force of the moon and if Stiles was right-which he usually was-then his control was going to be put to the test. He’d felt restless ever since they’d entered the forest, ever since Stiles had pointed out the strange aura this place gave off. It was like his wolf was waiting for something, and the longer it took Derek to figure it out the more agitated and frustrated his wolf got. It’d be easier if he could have a proper sit down with his wolf, he hadn’t done that since before Laura had been killed and it was long overdue.

  
The sound of movement cut through his thoughts, it wasn’t like any of the natural ones he picked up on every day, these were careful and calculated.

  
Hunters, these ones seemed a bit smarter than the ones they’d run into a few days ago.

_He had been in the throws of hunting when he picked up their sent and found it leading straight back to Stiles, Derek had cursed himself for taking the chance to hunt a leaving Stiles on his own for a bit, he didn’t think that huge group of hunters would’ve caught up to them so fast. Upon arrival he’d found that it was in fact a small group about five that had split of from the main, he’d been to busy looking for Stiles to focus on any conversation. Derek had feared that they had already caught Stiles when he zeroed in on his heartbeat, his fear lessened slightly when he caught the sound of the teens forced measured breaths. Stiles had managed to hide himself, how and where, Derek had no idea; he was just glad that he was safe._

_The hunters had obviously made a miscalculation in thinking they’d been gone for hours; he wasn’t sure if these guys were just green or stupid. Derek was quick to count his blessings though. He had waited impatiently for them to leave, and it took them even longer still to get out of human earshot. When he was finally able to make his way into the cave, he nearly missed the crevice Stiles had managed to wedge himself into, it was far to narrow for Derek but perfect for Stiles. He’d preened at the thought of having such a smart pack member, it was short lived when the teen had gone off on him for leaving him alone, he couldn’t fault Stiles for that._

  
Back to the ones that were tracking them now, they were good; almost at Chris’s level but not quite. Chris and the ones under him had managed to get the drop on him countless time, Derek hadn’t known that the man had caught up to him till it was almost too late, but these guys had enough skill to make Derek weary.

  
He halted his steps and pulled Stiles closer to him, making the teen go on alert instantly.

  
“They’ve caught up to us, haven’t they?” Stiles whispered in the small space between them.

  
Derek nodded in response while keeping an ear out for the group that was closing in, he could make out at least six heartbeats. They moved together with ease, it suggested that they had experience working with each other before.

  
“Move.” Derek said softly as he pushed Stiles ahead of him.

  
Stiles didn’t hesitate to pick up the pace, the teen seemed to navigate mostly buy moonlight, but he also seemed to have picked up on actually watching where he stepped. Stiles was the clumsiest of the group but when it mattered or when he actually knew what he was doing he could pull off some actual agility and a bit of grace, it foreshadowed what the teen would be capable of once he finally grew into his body.  
Derek cursed under his breath moments later when he realized that the hunters had picked on their trail and were closing in.

  
They ran, Derek barley had enough time to react when he heard the familiar sound of an arrow whistling through the air. He dragged Stiles behind a tree and covered his eyes as he squeezed his own shut Just as a flash bolt collided with a near by tree. Stiles may be human but that didn’t mean that the bolt wouldn’t momentarily blind him too.

  
“Go.” The wolf said as he pushed Stiles ahead of them, both of them breaking out into another run.

  
Arrows flew past them as they ran, way too close for comfort.

  
Just as Derek was about to redirect the teens path, Stiles had cried out in the next moment as his right shoulder jerked forward making him stumbled to the ground. Derek slid to halt next to him, the scent of Stiles’ blood hitting him like a punch to the face. The teen stood up quickly clutching his bicep tightly, he’d been grazed but Derek could see the wound bleeding through his shirts clear as day.

  
The wolf’s anger almost shot through the roof but if there was anything he was good at, it was controlling his temper.

* * *

Stiles flinched when Derek roared in defiance, challenging the hunters that were trying to surround them, his eyes bleeding red. 

  
Their weapons were all trained on them, well more so Derek than Stiles obviously.

  
“Looks like we win the race.” One of the hunters said, it was a guy who stood directly in middle most likely the self-elected leader of the group.

  
Derek growled audibly, daring the group to make a move against them.

  
Stiles cursed the one who managed to graze his arm, it slowed them down just enough for them to catch up properly. He wasn’t sure what to do, Derek couldn’t fight and protect the teen at the same time, and there was no talking their way out of this.

  
“Might as well give up now, no way you’re getting out of this with your injured friend.” The way he said the word sounded like it left a and taste in his mouth, and Stiles figured a guy like him wouldn’t have to many friends.

  
“Clearly you underestimate us.” Stiles said without thinking, he wasn’t trying to goad them, but he hated when anyone they faced thought they had clearly won, Stiles had been through enough shit this past year. There was no way he was going down this soon, he was going to get home and Derek was coming with him.

  
“I’m not sure about that, see I was part of the group that nabbed you in the first place, got to say after all that I heard about what was going on in that little town, I’m disappointed. But beggars can’t be choosers.” The man said as he leveled his crossbow at Derek and fired.

  
Derek Dodged easily, he hadn’t been standing to close to the teen, so he didn’t have to worry about him getting hit. The other’s opened fire, Stiles scrambled for cover while Derek disappeared into the shadows.  
Stiles wondered what the alpha had planned, when a scream cut through the air and something heavy landed right next to his hiding spot. It was one of the hunters and he was beginning to stir, on instinct Stiles pulled back his left leg and kicked, the flat of his foot colliding with the side of the mans face, knocking him unconscious. 

  
More screams filled the air, along with chaotic gun fire. Stiles busied himself with seeing what the hunter had on him, seeing as these guys were “roughing it” meant that they had to carry things on them for their long stay. Lucky for him Derek had tossed over the guy who seemed to be carrying the most stuff, whether the wolf had seen him as an easy target or not, he’d inadvertently helped them out.

  
Stiles had managed to wrestle the shoulder bag from the unconscious man and began digging through it. Doing his best to ignore the occasional scream and volley of bullets, he pulled out a pretty decent first aid kit and set it aside, next was clothes which he tossed behind him haphazardly, a book-who the hell reads out here?-a empty canteen, it just barley fit in his hand. There were a few small boxes he didn’t have time to look through, and a coupled cans of food. He debated on taking them, but then opted for no, Derek’s hunting worked just fine, plus there was no point in leaving a trail of trash for them to follow. He tossed the cans aside and began stuffing things back in the bag quickly, the fight was dying down but that didn’t mean he could let his guard down. He was about to move on when his eyes zeroed in on the fallen hunter’s gun, it was a handgun like his dads.

  
Stiles picked it up and examined it, remembering everything his dad had taught him about handling a gun, his dad had never let him shoot one because he’d been nine at the time. But he did teach him how to take one apart and how to put it back together.

  
Stiles cocked it, freeing the loaded bullet inside, catching it effortlessly, next he freed the cartridge and shoved it in his bag, he knew for a fact that most, if not all of these hunters where carrying wolfsbane laced weapons, Stiles would need every bullet he could get his hands on.

  
Movement caught the teens eye and he looked up to see another group of hunters moving in, no doubt they had heard all the commotion going on, Stiles quickly gathered up his new possessions. “Derek!” He called out, panic creeping into his voice as he got the rest of the things into the bag and pulled the string to seal it.

  
Stiles nearly had a heart attack when Derek landed beside him in all his wolf-like glory. No seriously he was now twice his normal size, with a muzzle, fur, claws, sharp teeth, and pointed ears. This was exactly what he pictured a wolf-man would look like, it had a Van Helsing-the one with Hugh Jackman- vibe to it, he was both terrifying and super badass, his shirt hung off in shreds, but somehow his pants were still intact.

  
The wolf wasted no time in surveying the area, picking up on the incoming threat.

  
Derek pulled the teen to his feet, urging him to run ahead. Stiles hesitated, wondering if Derek was going to stay behind to give him a head start.

  
Derek nodded his head in the direction he was telling Stiles to head towards, and something told him he should listen.

  
Biting his lip, Stiles slung the bag over his shoulder and took off in a sprint, doing his best to avoid roots and shrubs, he had a flashback of doing the same thing before, when he convinced Scott to find half a body with him, he couldn’t believe that had happened almost an entire year ago.

  
When he was sure he was far enough he skidded to a halt in an extremely small clearing, panting heavily as he looked around.

  
Derek came running through a second later hardly making a sound, even in his enlarged form. They had stopped at a break in the forest a small clearing ahead of them, it was big enough to fit Stiles’ house in.  
“You okay?” He huffed out; his shirt was ruined. Stiles was surprised Derek had tried to keep up with it, he figured Derek would take every opportunity he got to strip, the man was always shirtless.

  
“Shit, Derek you’re…” Stiles moved in closer, inspecting the bullet wounds littered across his body, his hands ghosting over the wounds.

  
A low rumble was Derek response. 

  
“How are you even still standing?” Stiles said, noticing the thick black lines of poison running through his veins. “Last time you got shot up with wolfsbane, you looked like you were about die any second.”  
He let out another rumble, though this one sounded strained. In the next second his body was shifting, and growing smaller, his fur sank back into his flesh and his muzzle shrank. Then, Derek was standing before him, his eyes were still red but other than that he looked like his normal self.

  
“Alpha,” He said, “I’m stronger than before so it takes longer for the wolfs bane to take effect.”

  
Stiles stored that information away for later. “Come on, we can’t stay here,” He didn’t hesitate to grab the alphas hand and lead them away from the small clearing and back into the forest.

* * *

“What if there’s no pack left to get back too?” Derek voiced softly, but it was loud enough for Stiles to hear, he supposed it was easier for Derek to voice one of his worst fears in the dead of night where the only things that could hear were the forest and a nosey teen for company.

  
Stiles squeezed his hand gently. “Then we’ll work with what’s left, whoever’s left.”

  
“You keep saying we, like you plan on staying.” Derek said.

  
That made Stiles pause mid step and turn to face the alpha. “Of course I am, why wouldn’t I? You said it yourself, we’re pack. You couldn’t get rid of me now, even if you tried.”

  
They stared at each other through the dark for moment, before Stiles resumed leading them through the dense forest. The full moon lit up the forest so brightly, it was almost like it was day, even in the dead of night, the whole place seemed just as lively, various animals and insects chirped and chittered.

  
For some reason it eased the tension in Stiles’ shoulders, even with the moon gazing down on them, he felt as though the forest was closing in around them, not in a suffocating-somethings-about-to-kill-us kind of way, but more like it was trying to hide them from anything trying to find them, like it was keeping them safe.

  
Derek stumbled behind him, pulling Stiles out of his thoughts. He turned just in time to catch the wolf as he fell forward, he’d lowered them both to the ground as slowly as he could. One good thing was that Derek was still conscious, though if he weren’t, Stiles wouldn’t be to hesitant to punch him in the face again.

  
Stiles yanked at the wolfs tattered shirt, pulling apart what little was keeping it together. Which was then followed by a litany of curses as the teen looked down at the carnage, four bullet wounds stared back at him.

  
“That bad?” Derek questioned as he tried to look down at his abdomen, a bit of humor filling his voice, the red had begun to fade from his eyes.

  
“I swear if you ask me to cut your arm off again, I will kill you.” Stiles bit out as he pulled the bag over his shoulder, ignoring the throbbing in his right arm.

  
Derek laughed breathlessly. “No, not my arm…though, maybe my leg?”

  
Stiles glared menacingly at the wolf as he dumped all the bags contents on the ground, rummaging through everything till he found the stray bullet. Only to realize he had nothing to light the wolfsbane with, inwardly cursing he retuned to the pile of stuff looking for anything he could use to start a fire. He came across a wooden box that was about six inches long and two inches wide, it took him a second to figure out how to open it. It was one of those boxes that had a sliding opening, inside it was sticks, they looked like those sticks he always saw burning at his favorite chine’s restaurant. The teen frowned as he pulled one out, then his brain connected the dots. He moved his free hand towards what he assumed was the top-it was hard to tell even with moonlight-and rested his thumb at the top. 

  
“Please.” He pleaded repeatedly, just before swiping his thumb over the top.

  
The stick flared to life and began to burn.

  
Stiles cheered inwardly, strike anywhere matches were a lucky find. He wasted no time in getting to work, as he waved out the lit match, he dumped the other matches on top of his bag.

  
“Where did you get all that?” Derek questioned.

  
“Got it off a hunter I knocked unconscious,” Stiles responded as he pulled the bullets apart with his teeth and emptied them into the box. “Thanks for that by the way, if you hadn’t sent him flying my way, I wouldn’t have gotten all this.”

  
“Even if I hadn’t you would’ve gotten it somehow, you’re always thinking ahead.” Derek said, followed by a grunt of pain.

  
Stiles lit another match, then set the powder on fire and watched it spark as it burned. “Occupational hazard.”

  
Derek stopped him before he could apply the cure, stating that the bullets were still lodged inside him.

  
Stiles grimaced as he watched Derek dig his own claws into his own flesh in order to pull out the offending metal. He was shaking and sweaty by the time he’d gotten the last bullet out.

  
Stiles was quick to pour the ash over his wounds resisting the urge to gag as he packed it in with his finger. Derek cried out, but Stiles was quick to clamp his free hand over the wolf mouth; muffling the sound of his screams. 

  
In hindsight, it was probably not the best Idea to put your very vulnerable hand over an alpha werewolf’s mouth on the night of a full moon.

  
They were both panting by the time Stiles had finished, all the wounds were healed; no visible trace of wolfsbane was a good sign.

  
Stiles sat back, unconsciously grabbing his right arm where it was throbbing painfully.

  
Derek sat up, reaching for the teens injured arm. “Let me see.”

  
“No, you need to focus on healing any other damage you might have taken, I can wait.” Stiles defended weakly.

  
“Stiles.”

  
“What?”

  
“Shut up.” The alpha said as he grabbed the teens arm gently, then devested him of his over shirt.

  
Stiles hissed as the blood-soaked fabric pulled at the wound on its way down. The two made brief eye contact before Derek pushed the sleeve of his t-shirt up, his eyes flaring red as he studied the wound closely.

  
“Nothings lodged in it, lucky for you, you don’t need stitches, it will scar though.” Derek explained as he turned to reach for the first aid kit.

  
“Yay for me.” Stiles said dejectedly.

  
Derek dug through the kit, using his eyes and nose to find what he needed. He was surprised to find an actual bottle of rubbing alcohol, about six ounces. He held up the bottle to Stiles and shook it.

  
The teens shoulders visibly dropped. “Please tell me that’s not what I think it is?”

  
“It’s this, or your wound gets infected, then I’ll have to cut off your arm.”

  
“That’s not even remotely funny.”

  
“it’s a little funny.”

  
Stiles glared at the wolf. “You’re an asshole, you know that right?”

  
“Pot, kettle.” Derek responded as he began ripping open a thin packages of bandages.

  
“I don’t like you right now.”

  
“you’re going to like me even less in a few seconds.”

  
Stiles was about to question the wolf when Derek grabbed ahold of his arm and poured a generous amount of the rubbing alcohol on his cut.

  
“AHHHH, you son of a…” Stiles cut himself off by biting his bottom lip, Derek wondered if the teen might accidentally bite his lower lip off.

  
Stiles was panting as he watched Derek clean and wrap his arm, black veins racing up the wolfs forearm as he worked.

  
“I hate you.” Stiles said once he got his breathing under control.

  
“I did warn you.” Derek said as he began cleaning up the mess they’d made.

  
“That was not a warning, you were just being a smart ass.”

  
“Don’t like getting a taste of your own medicine?” Derek said with a raised brow.

  
“No, not when it involves pain at my expense.” Stiles shot back.

  
“Quite being such a baby.” Derek shot back as began packing their bag, Stiles stopped him when he was about to put the bullet cartridge in the bag.

  
“Probably not the best idea to put bullets in the same bag as self-igniting matches.” He said as he pulled it out of his hand, managed to get what remained of the bullets out of the cartridge and shove them in his front pocket.

  
Derek finished packing the bag, stood and began stretching his muscles, Stiles was crouched beside him examining his plaid shirt. After a few seconds he let the clothing drop to the ground.

  
“Not going to take it with you?”

  
“No point, it’ll eventually end up like yours.” Stiles stated as he pointed over to the ground where what was left of Derek’s shirt lay.

  
“Come on, just because we lost them doesn’t mean they won’t stop. They’ll keep looking for us till the sun rises.”

  
“Yeah, like that’s anything new.” Stiles said with a heavy sigh. “Lead the way oh great wolfly leader of mine.”

  
Derek huffed and began walking, Stiles following behind.

* * *

They managed to make it to morning without running into any hunters or their traps, they didn’t even bother with setting up camp, both collapsing against a tree shoulder to shoulder, and promptly fell asleep.  
Elsewhere in the forest, a long ways behind the two. Something happened upon the bloodied clothes that had been left behind. It wasn’t by chance, this creature had been tracking the two for days, weary of the other that followed and the traps they laid behind.

The creature snuffled at the shredded and bloodied garment; its snout wrinkled as it growled angrily when it caught the scent of wolfsbane. It moved on to the other cloth, sneezing as it tried to rid it nasal cavity of the horrible scent.

  
It hesitantly sniffed at the clothing, where the blood was most concentrated. It buried its snout further in when it didn’t pick up the same offending smell as before.

  
When it caught the scent of what it’d been tracking properly, it lifted its head to the sky and howled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any ideas as to what's tracking them? tell me your guesses in the comments.
> 
> I'll see you guys next week, for real this time! xD


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday!
> 
> Here's the next chapter, I hope you guys enjoy!

Derek’s eyes flew open, the echo of a howl ringing in his ears. His sleep muddled brain couldn’t tell if he’d actually heard it, or if he’d dreamt it. Either way it didn’t matter, the message was clear.

  
_ I’ve found them._

  
Stiles stirred beside him, some part of him must have sensed his growing agitation. He looked up at Derek with blurry eyes.

  
“What’s wrong?” He slurred as he looked around at their surroundings, the sun glaring down at them.

  
“Don’t know…thought I heard howling?” Derek responded; his tongue felt heavy in his mouth.

  
“Anyone we know?” Stiles questioned.

  
Derek wondered if he was joking, he shook his head. “No, least I don’t think so.”

  
Stiles let his head fall on Derek’s shoulder as he yawned. “Not that surprising, wolves-actual wolves, are native to British Columbia, though they’re farther up north. But they are known to migrate, maybe they just want to see who or what has entered their territory.”

  
“That would make sense, but I didn’t pick up on any other territory’s here, I would’ve told you if I had. Even if I’m a werewolf, other packs-especially wolves-don’t take kindly to having trespassers.” Derek explained as he rubbed his hands over his face, trying to dispel some of the exhaustion he was feeling.

  
“What did the howl sound like?” Stiles questioned.

  
“If I actually heard anything out there, they’ve picked up our trail. Something is tracking us, and they’re not alone.”

  
“well that’s not anything new, we’ve just got to figure out if they’re trying to kill us or help us, odds are they’re going to kill us.” Stiles said as he tried to stretch out his arms, momentarily forgetting the wound he’d gotten last night. He hissed and glared down at the bandages wrapped around his upper right arm.

  
Derek sighed as he reached over to grab his arm, syphoning off his pain without a second though.

  
“I really don’t want to get up right now.” Stiles said with another yawn.

  
“Yeah, that’s the full moon, usually we’d-my family- we’d spend the day sleeping after a run.” Derek said, letting loose his own yawn.

  
“Sounds like my kind of party, guess that’s one more thing we’ll have to work on. I’m not even sure how we managed to get away last night. Speaking of; I don’t think I ever seen you look like that.” Stiles said as he pulled his knees to his chest, resting his injured arm on top of them.

  
“I Normally don’t, especially if there’s someone else I need to look out for, but the moon got ahold of me. I had enough control not to completely lose it…but you getting hurt kind of tipped the scale.” Derek said as he let his cheek rest against the teens head. “I’d have probably been worse if the fight dragged out much longer, I was barley able to hold back myself back.”

  
“I didn’t even know you could do that?”

  
“All alphas can, though my mom didn’t use it much, she had a much cooler form, she could actually turn into a real wolf.”

  
“That’s so cool, you think you can do that?”

  
Derek shrugged, “Maybe, one day.”

  
“Least you don’t look like a shaved bear on steroids, like Peter did.”

  
Derek frowned as he silently questioned Stiles’ imagination, only he could come up with an outlandish comparison like that. “No, I guess not.”

  
So, what about Jackson? You said that you take the form of what you are, I know he’s snake but why did he turn into that?” Stiles asked, changing the subject.

  
“Everyone is different, you read the Bestiary, the reason he changed was because he felt like he was missing apart of himself, that he wasn’t truly accepted by those around him, and if Jackson had made peace with what he found out about himself a long time ago, he would’ve become a wolf right off the bat, but he didn’t. He let his fear, anger, and resentment grow till it almost consumed him. I should’ve known, I just saw him as an arrogant kid who wanted to be better then everyone else, and that’s not what is needed in pack.”

  
“You can’t beat yourself up over that, you were high on alpha power. Plus, Jackson asked for it, how could you’ve known what was going to happen. You told me you were never meant to be an alpha, but you are, and honestly I’d choose you over Peter any day.” Stiles said as he shamelessly snuggled into the werewolf’s side, the sun was out but there was an overcast rolling in, and it was bringing a chill along with it.  
“I think any person with a brain would’ve chose anyone over Peter.” Derek meant it to be joke but it fell short.

  
“Are you glad he’s back?” Stiles asked softly.

  
“I don’t know, I’m glad I’m not the only Hale left, it’s just…” Derek trailed off.

  
“You’re worried that even though he seems better, he might just as easily fly off the handle again.” Stiles said hesitantly.

  
Derek wondered if he was that easy to read, but then he chalked it up to Stiles being Stiles, he may have a horrible filter from time to time, but he was the best at reading others when he put his mind to it. “I killed him once, for Laura, I don’t want to do it again.”

  
“It’s like you told Scott, right? You may be predators, but you don’t have to be killers.”

  
Derek moved to sit up better, Stiles doing the same. “But I killed him, and it wasn’t the first time I killed someone.”

  
There was a moments silence.

  
“You’re talking about Paige, aren’t you?” Stiles asked, his voice low.

  
Derek’s eyes widened as he turned to look at Stiles fully, he wasn’t sure what to say. 

  
Stiles stared back, his face open and lacking any trace of judgment.

  
“I went through the yearbooks, and a few police files from around the time you were in school, there was only one about a girl who was found dead in the forest with a broken neck. In the yearbook, I found a photo of you and her at one of your basketball games.” Stiles said as he placed his right hand over Derek’s left which was resting on the wolf’s thigh. “What happened to her?”

  
Derek’s jaw clenched as the memories came back, he took a deep breath and dove into a retelling of what had happened all those years ago, how they met and couldn’t stand one another in the beginning. How later, Peter had whispered in his ear; Paige getting bit by another alpha and rejecting the bite, which lead to her asking Derek to end it all. As he spoke the hand that was under Stiles’ began to dig into the meat of his thigh as his emotions resurfaced. Stiles had noticed and worked his hand under Derek’s, freeing his thigh from the momentary abuse and giving Derek something to hold onto, something to focus on.

  
“She sounds like she could’ve kicked all our asses, without breaking a sweat.” Stiles said after a moment with an amused grin.

  
Surprised laughter forced its way out of Derek at the thought. “Yeah, she would’ve. Especially me, she’d have probably smacked me and told me to stop being such an idiot.”

  
“Sounds like my kind of girl, I wouldn’t slap you, but I’d defiantly tell you to stop being an idiot-which I have. Granted, I have punched you in the face before, and I have called you out on some of worst ideas you’ve ever had.” Stiles said, his free arm becoming more expressive as he talked.

  
“The two of you together would’ve been a huge pain in the ass. But she’d have defiantly enjoy watching you chastise me.” Derek said, a soft smile pulling at his lips.

  
“Man, I wish I had a camera, I get to see you actually laugh and smile for the first time. And not a camera or phone in sight.” Stiles said as he grinned at Derek.

  
Derek’s smile fell the next second, replaced by his signature glare.

  
“You see, you can give me murder brows all you want.” Stiles lifted his free hand up towards Derek’s face and pressed his index finger right in between the wolf’s furrowed brows. Derek’s eyes followed the entire time, eventually making him go cross-eyed. Stiles just barley managing not to laugh. “But I know you’re not as unapproachable as you want everyone to think you are.”

  
Derek refocused on the teen beside him, then reached up with his free hand and shoved the teen away, via hand on face.

  
Stiles yelped and flailed as he fell back. Derek stood up as he watched the teen scramble to stand up next to him.

  
Stiles glared at Derek. “Funny. You know things would’ve gone a lot smoother if you were this open when we first meet.”

  
“Shut up, Stiles.” Derek said as he picked up their discarded bag and slung it over his shoulder.

  
“No, I’m serious. If I’d met a non-scowling Derek, things would’ve gone a lot better then before. I mean come on, you managed to distract that deputy at the station. You just enjoy being an asshole to much-wait Derek where’re you going?”

  
Derek had chosen to walk on ahead of Stiles figuring the teen would realize he was gone sooner or later and would try to find him. Derek had managed to get about two feet away before Stiles had noticed and ran after him.

  
“Wait-Derek!”

  
The wolf couldn’t help the found smile the spread across his face.

* * *

  
There was a knock at the door.

  
“Sheriff, you’ve got a visitor.” Tara said as she pushed the door to his office open.

  
“Who is it?” Noah asked as he looked up from the paperwork he’d been going through.

  
“It’s Isaac Lahey, sir.” She answered.

  
Noah frowned, what could be so important that the kid would come all the way here to talk to him. He was on the night shift now, since he’d taken the night off for the full moon, he’d decided that having the night shift might be easier to deal with. “Let him in.”

  
Tara pulled back from the door and Isaac stepped in, he looked a little worse for wear. Probably still recovering from the night before.

  
“What can I do for you son?”

  
Isaac looked out of sorts, like he wasn’t sure how to act or what he should say out of fear of being reprimanded or worse. Not for the first time did he wish he could have given Mr. Lahey what he deserved, plus a fist to the face.

  
“Sorry to bother you sir…” The teen trailed off.

  
“It’s no bother son, I know you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important. And there’s no need to call me sir.” Noah said with a soft smile, it seemed to ease the boy’s tension, if only a little.  
“What should I call you then?”

  
“What ever you want, within reason of course.”

  
“Mr. Stilinski?” Isaac said hesitatingly.

  
“That works fine, now what seems to be the problem?” Noah inquired.

  
“I was wondering, if maybe, you’d seen or heard from Erica?”

  
Noah frowned, Erica was missing? In an instant Noah began to worry that those hunters had come back, that maybe the worse had happened and they were moving on to new prey.

  
Isaac must have picked up on his growing distress, speaking up easily. “She’s okay, I think? It’s hard to tell but she’s okay and she’s still in town, we just don’t know where.”

  
Noah’s shoulders dropped as he squinted at the teen. “Why don’t you start from the beginning son?”

  
“Chris had said that we didn’t have time to recover form the full moon, he had started up training again. Which wasn’t bad, the only one who seemed bothered by it was Jackson. The longer it went on the more agitated he was getting; we really couldn’t tell why. At this point we tried to tell him to cool it and it worked for a bit, but then Erica had got him good during one of the sparing lessons and he flew off the chain…he said some pretty harsh things about her. And she took off, even leaving Boyd behind which she really doesn’t do. We haven’t been able to find her no matter where we looked. The only thing we managed to figure out was that the reason Jackson had been in a bad mood was because he had finally reached his limit, since everything’s calmed down Derek was working on getting more acquainted with Jackson. It was slow on both their parts, but it was progress. When Derek got taken away, it was like rebreaking a bone that was just starting to heal. He hid it well…but you can’t hide things forever.”  
“I see. So, because of Jackson being who he usually is, Erica has decided to get away for a little bit? There isn’t much I can do but tell you guys to sit and wait she’ll come out of her hiding place when she’s ready. But I can keep an eye out for her if she decides to come through this way. I’ll let you know if she does okay?” Noah said with a soft smile.

  
Isaac rung his hands together before nodding. “Thank you, Mr. Stilinski.”

  
Noah’s smile grew bigger. “There’s no reason to thank me Isaac, believe it or not, I really care about all you kids.”

  
A shy smile pulled at Isaac’s lips; they said their goodbye’s moments later. Then the teen was gone, and probably still off looking for Erica.

  
Noah sat back in his chair, mulling over the information that Isaac had given him, he had a rough Idea on how packs works. What he hadn’t known was that on some level they could sense each other, Noah guessed it was a distance related thing; else they’d have been able to locate Derek and via extension, Stiles.

  
He wondered what had actually occurred between Whittemore and Reyes, he knew for a fact that Jackson had a couldn’t-care-less attitude towards everything, but he thought he had been on his way to fixing that problem. Then again someone didn’t change overnight, and it would be wrong of him to assume someone would change so quickly and easily.

  
Rubbing his eyes, he put the questions to the back of his mind and flipped through his sons missing persons file for the thousandth time. It made his heart ache to look at it, and even though he’d checked it over countless times, he wanted to make sure they had every detail correct.

  
He stared at the picture he’d provided for his son, it had been one of the most recent ones from home which was of the two of them, and the one he’d put up on his social media account.

  
“You better come home to me, Mischief.” He whispered to himself as he set the file down.

  
Later on, in the early hours of the morning as he was heading home, he pondered what Isaac had told him about Erica going missing, or at least taking some time for herself. He tried his best not to worry about the girl but with his own son missing it hit to close to home and he debated about weather or not he should patrol around Beacon Hills for bit, just in case he caught sight of her. In the end though he decided to head home, if she wanted to be found, she’d show up sooner or later.

  
When he got home, he hung up his jacket and tossed his key in the dish by the door, he sighed heavily as he stared through the halls of his home. The house felt vacant, like on some level it knew that Stiles was gone too. It made the ache in his chest hurt even more because it reminded him too much of when they’d lost Claudia. As he walked through the house, he stopped at one of the pictures of his late wife that hung on the wall just before the stairs. She was smiling brightly at the camera, and he saw so much of Stiles in her, almost everything he saw reminded him of their son.

  
He touched his fingers lightly to the frame. “Don’t worry Claud, I’ll get our boy home.”

  
Noah made his way up the stairs only to pause at his son’s door, it was slightly open. It made him hesitate because the last time he’d been in there he’d made sure to close the door behind him when he’d left.  
A small spark of hope lit inside him as he edged closer to the door, when he opened it fully and image of Stiles sitting at his desk on his laptop filled his mind, the image faded seconds later, and his shoulder dropped as the tiny spark disappeared. He was about to leave when he noticed an unusual mound on the bed, Stiles’ bed had been made last he remembered. He made his way over to his son’s bed, his hand resting on his hip just above his gun. The mound of blankets moved, whoever was underneath sat up and when the cover fell away a mess of long blonde hair was all he could really make out.

  
Noah frowned, “Erica?”

  
He received an answer when the girl pushed back her hair from her face, there was no trace of the girl he’d grown accustomed to in the past week or so. Even as she tried to pat down her hair it was frizzy and matted, there was no trace of the makeup she usually wore, or that overconfident attituded she’d always had. Noah hadn’t known her from before she received the bite, but he was pretty sure this was as close as he was going to get.

  
“Sorry,” She said softly, her face was blotchy. “I’ll go, I didn’t mean to intrude.”

  
She’d barley got her bare feet from under the covers before Noah stopped her.

  
“Mind telling me what’s wrong?”

  
Noah watched as she moved to the edge of Stiles’ bed, the tips of toes touching the floor. “Just Jackson being Jackson.” She said as she rubbed her cheek with the heel of her palm.

  
“Yeah that boys still got a lot to learn. You know the others are looking for you right, surprised they didn’t find you here.”

  
“I wasn’t here when they checked, but when I got here, I didn’t want to leave.” She said as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

  
It was then that Noah noticed she was wearing Stile’s clothes; it was one of his graphic T’s and a pair of his old gym shorts. It reminded him of the night of the full moon, she bogarted his son’s sweater that night, if it helped her feel comfortable then he wasn’t going to question her.

  
“You know I wasn’t kidding about the free pass thing, right?”

  
“Yeah, but you didn’t apply it to Stiles’ room, it’s just when I caught his scent I…” She trailed off as she looked down.

  
“What?” Noah questioned, hoping she’d continue.

  
“I miss him. God, I was nothing but mean to him ever since I became a werewolf, I hurt him and threatened him…and he still helped me, more then once. And how did I repay him?” Fresh tears were falling down her face and she roughly whipped them away.

  
“From what I gather from the lot of you is that my son has a really good heart-which I already knew,” He frowned as he said the next part, “but, he seems to not have any regard for his own wellbeing.”  
Erica couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

  
“But you know what?”

  
“What?”

  
“It’s how you know he really cares. Looking at you now, I can see why he’d do so much for you in particular.” Noah said as a sad smile graced his lips as he looked down at his hands; a deep seeded sadness filled his scent and Erica couldn’t help but lean closer to the man.

  
“What do you mean?”

  
His smile grew a little founder. “You probably remind him of her, his mother.”

  
Erica jerked back, caught completely off guard by the statement.

  
“I’m not saying it in like a weird way, I mean you were sick before the bite, that much I know. My wife’s sickness was like yours in some ways.” He said as he looked up at her. “I bet you felt like all you were waiting for was for it to end, that one day it’ll all be over, and everything would work out for your family since they didn’t have to care about you anymore?”

  
Erica swallowed the lump in her throat, there had been times when she wished one of her seizures had taken her, especially around the time when they had filmed her at school.

  
“You felt like you were wasting away, day after day, with no end in sight.”

  
More tears were falling down her face in droves, she couldn’t look away from the sheriff.

  
“I had to watch it happen to my wife, the doctors had said there was nothing they could do except make it easy for her. And me and Stiles had to watch as she faded, as her sickness turned her into something she wasn’t, till one day she was gone…”

  
Erica noted how his eyes were red, and how she could detect the faint scent of tears that weren’t hers in the air.

  
Noah cleared his throat before continuing on a lighter note. “The same thing happened to you, though in reverse, I guess. You got better but ended up losing yourself in the process. You forgot who you are really, yes you can be that girl I’ve come to know, but you can’t forget what makes you really you. The makeup and the clothes help bring out a side of you, you didn’t know existed. But you can’t forget that this,” he gestured to her, as she was now. “is apart of you too, yes you’ve made some wrong decisions, and done things you’re not proud of and that’s life. Believe it or not, but you’re still a kid, hell almost all of you are, and you shouldn’t have to deal with things like this. Most of you chose this path and you can either run, like you had planned to do, or you can get through it with your head held high. Become something better then what you’ve been, but don’t forget who you really are, Erica. If my son decided to help you-to save you-then he saw something worth saving. Don’t beat yourself up for what you did, pick yourself up and see what my son most likely sees in you.”

  
Erica couldn’t help it, she flung herself at the sheriff and buried her face in his shoulder, crying silently.

  
“Hey it’s alight, it’s okay.” Noah said as he wrapped his arms around her, lightly resting his hand on her head.

  
After a good five minutes she pulled back from the elder Stilinski, trying her best to clean her face off. 

  
“Sorry,” She said sheepishly, “I ruined your shirt.”

  
“Ah nothing a little dry cleaning won’t fix, trust me it’s not the worst thing I’ve gotten on these clothes.” Noah reassured her with a smile that reminded her to much of Stiles.  
“Now tell me about what happened with Jackson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emotions make everything better! And sharing what you think you shouldn't!
> 
> I have a plan to eventually have the sheriff go through the problem puppies of the pack!
> 
> Please let me know what you think in the comments, and I'll see you guys next week!


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive!  
Hey guys, happy Tuesday! Sorry for the late update I was beyond tired yesterday and by the time I was finally free it was time for bed because of work in the morning
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

“Shit!” Stiles cursed as he barley managed to dodge one of the hunter’s traps, it was a fucking trip snare he’d narrowly avoided, don’t ask him how he managed that.

  
His entire body was trembling, he was pretty much running on adrenalin alone.

  
They had only gotten one day, on fucking day to rest after the full moon, then the hunters came down on them full force. At least two groups were chasing them, two completely new groups rather than the ones from before, he wasn’t sure how they’d found them, and he didn’t care, all that mattered was getting away.

  
Two days, they’d been running, for two fucking days.

  
Derek had gotten separated from him a few hours earlier on the second day. They hadn’t had time to talk, one look was all they needed to exchange before they had split off, effectively splitting the hunter’s up too. Stiles tried not think about watching Derek run off in another direction, or how that might have been the last time he’d see the werewolf ever again.

  
Whenever he came across water he drank as much as he could before moving on, not caring about whether it was clean or not, he needed water a lot more then food at this point, even though his stomach protested at the thought.

  
The hunters had long since stopped firing, which he was glad for. He guessed they were more focused on capturing him, they likely planned to use him as bait for Derek and there was no way in hell Stiles was going to let that happen.

  
He dug his feet into the ground and used his momentum to change directions, somehow, he managed to stay upright. He knew he was leaving a trail for them to follow he was doing it purposely.

  
So long as they knew where he was going, they’d keep tracking him instead of joining up with the others to hunt Derek. He long since stopped feeling the burning ache throughout his entire body, his lungs and throat had yet to get with the program, the glaring sun wasn’t helping his situation.

  
Stiles tore through the forest, making sure to leave a visible path for them to follow, when he was sure he’d gone far enough, he changed directions carefully and doubled back. He ran parallel to the path of destruction he caused, keeping his footsteps measured, and when he could, he hopped from the roots of a tree to another in order to make sure he left no footprints behind. When he came across a tree that had branches low enough, he scaled it with ease, climbing up as high as he dared which was about twenty feet from the forest floor.

  
He decided to take a breather, two minutes passed before the hunters came into view, they were moving quickly but not as fast as Stiles had, since they were weighed down by their weapons and gear.  
What Stiles found weird was that there were only three of them, two guys and a girl. He guessed that they thought they didn’t need so many men to take down a simple human.

  
Stiles sat forward as he watched them move beneath him one hand braced on the trunk of the tree and began committing everything to memory. The girl was carrying a semi-automatic, one of the guys was carrying a crossbow, and the last had handgun. They all had their weapons in hand, pointed to the ground but ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Their camping gear looked be spread out between the three, sharing the load so that none of them were hindered as much as the other. They didn’t speak to one another, there wasn’t much reason too when you could see the path plain as day. He wondered how they hadn’t caught onto him, maybe they thought he was just an idiot kid who decided run with wolves without knowing what he was really getting into.

  
The fear he’d felt in the earlier days was giving way to irritation and anger, as the days dragged on his resentment towards hunters was growing, even more so then it had with Gerard. Each day that passed gave Stiles a chance to understand Derek better. He’d never liked hunters, but now, hate had begun to set in, and he knew that they were going to keep pushing and one of these days he was going snap and push back.

  
He watched as the hunters continued down the path, he’d laid out for them. ‘Like rats in maze.’ He thought to himself, not once did they bother to look up and scan the trees, and why would they? Wolves kept to the ground for the most part, and they hadn’t counted on a crafty human they’d managed to capture.

  
As Stiles breath evened out, he couldn’t help but grin as the beginnings of plan began to form in his mind, maybe it was time to snap back.

  
Ultimately, he’d decided to follow the group, he trailed behind them at a good distance. Far enough away that they wouldn’t detect him but close enough so that he wouldn’t lose them. The girl seemed to be a little more advanced then the rest. Stiles noticed that she moved quickly but kept a careful eye on their surroundings, he knew that they knew that his trail had gone cold. But he was sure they kept in mind that he was human.

  
They knew he’d try to hide eventually, and he was waiting for them to decide to double back or make a different decision.

  
Derek had taken off with their bag, which meant that Stiles would need to get one of his own as a precautionary measure. If he played his cards right, he was sure he’d be able to get the drop on them and hopefully not get shot.

  
The sun had begun to set, Stiles feared he would lose sight of them. But unlike the other hunters he had come across, these one actually had flashlights. It made his head tilt in question; it was a gesture he’d seen the wolves use more than once when they were hearing something he couldn’t. Looks like he’d been spending to much time with them after all.

  
Stiles watched as they halted and without thinking he crouched down on all fours and froze. He was a good thirty feet from them, but he could easily see where they were by watching the beams of their flashlights wave through the trees.

  
He noticed that two of the three lights pointed opposite each other, and the third light shifted towards where he was crouched. Within seconds he realized they were scanning the perimeter, either they were still looking for him or they were making preparation for camp.

  
As the light drew closer, he backed up slowly-still on all fours-till he could hide behind a tree that had a big enough trunk.

  
Stiles began making his way around the tree when the hunter had reached him, which had been the right decision when he watched him scan the area he’d just vacated. The hunter kept walking, Stiles trailing behind loosely, keeping low to the ground. Before he could think too much on it, he dove for the guy, grabbing him buy his jacket, he used all the strength could muster and sent the hunter stumbling into a nearby tree. The man barely had time to gasp before his head collided against the tree with a heavy thump.

  
The hunter didn’t move, hesitantly Stiles moved closer and crouched down over the guy. He was out cold and had a pretty nasty gash on the left side of his forehead. Upon further inspection Stiles noticed that he’d gotten the guy with the crossbow. He got a good look at the hunter’s face and anger shot through him. The guy beneath him was just a kid, no older then he was. They had him out here hunting an alpha werewolf of all things, knowing very well he could die. It made his blood boil, this kid should be enjoying his summer, not out here in the middle of a life and death situation. He knew that the boy most likely didn’t have much of a choice. Stiles had chosen to run with wolves for the sake of his best friend, and according to Allison, hunter kids didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, when it came to the family business.

  
Before he could let his internal rant get any further, he reached for the flashlight that the kid had dropped and flicked it off. Stiles could already hear the other two calling out for their missing member.

  
Stiles picked up the weapon and took it with him, just in case the kid woke up from his unscheduled naptime and went looking for him. The crossbow felt strange in his hands, he’d never help one before and he never wanted to. Stiles tried his best not to think about how many werewolves or humans this weapon had wounded and or killed alone.

  
The other two were circling back trying to find their partner without making to much noise, their weapons raised. Stiles stuck to the shadows as best he could though he knew he was nowhere near Derek’s level, he made sure to keep vigilant watch over the two as they continued to search.

  
As he watched them, he wondered if this is what Derek felt like when he was circling a group of hunters or prey? That even though his heart was racing he felt like he had the upper hand, in this situation he was the predator…ha predator-focus!

As he watched the two, he though back to what his dad taught him-ah well instructed him on.

* * *

_He’d been ten at the time and there had been a string of kidnappings in the surrounding counties. It had a few years after his mom had died and his dad had finally gotten a handle on his depression and stopped drinking. Stiles thought it had been on his behalf more then the case, because his dad had come home to find the house spotless and without a word he’d went to Stiles’ room and saw his ten-year-old son folding laundry like he’d been doing it for years. It broke the sheriff’s heart when he realized how his son had been forced to grow up because he hadn’t been able to control his grief._

  
_“Hey dad, everything okay?” Noah looked up, not having realized he’d been lost in thought. His son was staring up at him with concern. He didn’t like seeing that look on his sons face, he should be the one who watched over him, he was the parent…not his ten-year-old son._

  
_Without a word he walked over to his son and fell to his knees at the foot of his bed and pulled his son into bone crushing hug._

  
_“I’m sorry, Stiles, I’m so sorry.” He sobbed into his kid’s shoulder._

  
_Stiles’ small arms wrapped around his head. “It’s okay, dad.”_

  
_“No, it’s not. I should’ve never left you like that.” Noah said as he pulled away from his son, it was then that he realized how big his son had gotten in the years he’d been lost in his grief, he swore he wouldn’t miss another moment._

  
_“It’s okay dad, you were really sad-“ Stiles tried to placate him._

  
_“I know I was sad, but that’s no excuse, I’m not going to leave you like that again.” Noah amended as he held his son’s face in his hands._

  
_Noah felt his heart break even more as he watched his son’s bottom lip quiver and pull down into a frown. Tears welled in his son’s eyes and fell unabashedly down his face in droves._

  
_“Dad!” Stiles had cried as he launched himself at his father and sobbed._

  
_There was a lot of crying after that, and later that night, Stiles had slept in his dad’s bed, something he hadn’t done since they lost his mom._

  
_A few weeks later reports had come in about the missing children, and Noah had feared for his son._

  
_So, for the following week he’d painstakingly gone over everything he knew about self-defense and running/escaping from kidnappers._

  
_“Use your head, you can think of ways to outrun them that they can’t, fit into places they won’t be able to reach. Be quick but be smart, they might have speed and strength on their side, but you’ve got your size and your agility, use what you got and don’t hold back. And if they catch you don’t be afraid to hurt them, use your hands, fingers, nails, elbow, knees, feet, teeth, or even your head. Go for the eyes, ears, nose, throat, crotch. Anything that’ll help you get away.” His dad had explained, making gestures for him to follow ever now and again._

  
_He’d taught him how to get out of trunks, zip ties, and cuffs-which he’d been pretty apprehensive about. His dad had also taught him a few moves too, ease stuff that would stun an opponent long enough to get away if need be._

  
_In end, the small amount of training he’d gotten hadn’t been needed, they’d caught the kidnapper and managed to save the life of one of the five kids that had gone missing._

* * *

Out of sheer curiosity Stiles had searched though self defense moves because he thought they might come in handy one day, he’d only gotten through four videos before something else had caught his attention and he’d gotten lost down a video rabbit hole. He hadn’t had any need for them, so he’d forgotten all about it. Looking back on it now he wished he had, else he wouldn’t have suffered at Gerard’s hands, though no one expects to be nabbed in public, much less on a field filled with Lacrosse players.

He took a shaky breath; he was no specialist but for him this was life and death and that’s what mattered right now. They had years on him and didn’t really have to worry about whether or not they could die tonight.

  
He forced air out between his slightly pursed lips as his dad’s voice echoed in his head.

  
_ “Use your head…Be quick but be smart…use what you’ve got and don’t hold back.”_

  
Stiles placed the weapon he’d acquired on the ground as he zeroed in on the girl, from what he learned about Allison, she was going to be the hardest to take down. So, he was going to do the stupid thing and start there, like he vowed, if he was going down it was going to be fighting.

  
He trailed after her, making sure to keep track of the other hunter as well. She was poised and controlled, like he’d seen Allison be a couple times here and there. But this girl had been trained for longer, he figured that she been brought in at a young age like most hunters did, it was the only explanation he had.

  
He ducked low when she swiveled around towards him, probably catching some sound he’d made when he was paying enough attention.

  
She kept her steps carful as she walked towards him, in that moment he was thankful she carried a semi-automatic because it made carrying the weapon and a flashlight near impossible to do. Stiles watched as she took steps in his directions and a lick of fear ran through him. He forced himself to breathe through it and counted to five before he jumped out of his hiding place and grabbed the barrel of the gun, he’d just turned it away from him when she fired, the jarring motion making his arm tingle and his wound protest, her comrade was calling out to her. Stiles knew he wouldn’t shoot, there was too high a chance he’d hit her instead.

  
She tried to wrench the gun from his grasp and almost succeeded, but Stiles held on. He’d just barley evaded a precise kick to his abdomen and still managed to keep hold of the gun. Somehow, they both had hands on the gun, it was locked between them as they fought for the upper hand.

  
Then she dropped back using her momentum to pull Stiles down over her. Her knee dug painful into his stomach as she flipped him over, he landed hard on his back.   
Stiles was quick to get up and move just as she fired where he’d been laying seconds before. He lunged for her again his hands back on the gun, and instead of pushing against her he pulled her forward and yanked to the side, he heard her gasp and felt more the saw her stumble and lose her grip on her weapon.

  
He threw the weapon away when he freed it from her grasp completely. Without hesitating he tackled her to the ground, they rolled for a bit before she pinned him, he’d just gotten his barring’s when her fist collided with his face, hot anger shot through him as images of Gerard beating him played through his mind. With a fresh surge of adrenalin, he freed himself of her grasp and pushed her off of him, she fell back, and he followed, effectively pinning her down.

  
He silently asked his mom for forgiveness before he reared his arm back and plunged it forward, his fist collided with her face. Stiles ignored his pain flaring in his hand, and the sting from the wound on his arm.

  
He grunted when her knee dug painfully into his stomach, with more force than before.

  
Light splintered through his vision as her fist met his face again and he tasted blood.

  
He fought through the growing pain and managed to land another blow, he hadn’t been aiming properly but he managed to hit her temple and her body went lax, Stiles was sure he’d knocked her out but then she groaned, her movements lethargic. He guessed he managed to scramble her brains enough to disorient her.

  
Stiles rolled off of her the next second when he caught the other hunter advancing towards them. He fled, managing to hide behind a tree just as a few shots were let off. He gasped for breath as he tried to think about how he would get out of this one, he’d lost the element of surprise now.

  
_‘Like rats in a maze.’_ His brain supplied.

  
Stiles’ head tilted to the side as he listened for the other hunter, his movements had gone silent, but he knew the man was closing in on him.

  
As silently as he could Stiles crept forward and hid behind another tree, he crouched low and began rapidly unlacing his shoes, setting his plan in motion.

* * *

The hunter moved in, keeping a trained eye on the tree he’d watched the idiot try to hide behind. His gun and flashlight trained on the tree, he stopped momentarily to check on his fallen partner to make sure they were still breathing. This guy was good, but still stupid, did he really think he could take them all out?

  
He jumped towards the tree when he was a foot away and aimed his gun where he figured the guy would be hiding, he found the spot empty and quickly surveyed his surroundings. His light hopping from tree to tree as he looked for the guy who had the balls to confront them without any weapons or training.

  
What kind of idiot threw away any weapon he got his hands on, but this dumbass did run with wolves so it was safe to say he wasn’t too bright.

  
He caught sight of a pair of worn out shoes peaking out next to the roots of the tree and switched off his flashlight, just as he thought the guy was an idiot and he was going to pay for hurting his friends. Boss wanted him alive but bruised and battered worked just fine too.

  
When he got close enough, he let off a shot it went right through the shoe.

  
The hunter was confused when the guy didn’t scream. To late he realized it was a diversion and just as he turned to frantically search his surroundings something collided with his head and the world went back.

* * *

Stiles stood over the unconscious hunter breathing heavily, his feet completely bare and the semi-automatic hanging lose in his left hand, he’d used the butt of the weapon to render the hunter unconscious.

With that over with, he set to work.  
Later he was crouched over their stuff,

rummaging through them for things he’d need. The three hunters he’d fought with were bound and sitting under a nearby tree. Their wrists tied together in front of them with zip ties he’d found in one of their bags. Dragging them all over had been a pain, but he wanted to make sure they were where he could see them. He grown angry again when he’d gotten a good look at them, all three of them had been kids around his age, just kids…and all they knew about this world was what they had been taught by men and women who let the emotions and bad experiences control them.

  
All three began to wake as he continued with his task.

  
“W-what?” The girl questioned as she looked around, her eyes zeroed in on him in seconds.

  
Stiles felt like everything had slowed for a second as he watched her body tense and pitch forward. Just as fast Stiles grabbed the handgun, he’d taken from the last hunter he knocked out, cocked it and fired.

The recoil had his arm jerking up and he was pretty sure his cut had reopened. The bullet logged itself in the tree between her head and the hunters on her right, they all froze, eye’s wide in shock or terror, Stiles couldn’t tell.

  
“You know that’s the first time I’ve ever fired a gun, my dad taught me a lot about guns, especially these,” He held up the gun, his grip lax. “he taught me how to take one apart, how to clean it, what parts did what, how to put it back together, how to aim. But he never let me fire it, never bothered me, it wasn’t something I was keen on learning, but his lessons stuck with me and for that I’m grateful. Oh, I wouldn’t move, or try anything. I might hit something vital if you’re not careful.”

  
His three captives were seething, but they knew better then to test him. He may not be a good shot, but he’d take at least one of them down if they decided to rush him. He knew that that’s what they were planning so he wasn’t going to waste any more time.

  
He shoved what he deemed worthy in one of the bags he’d emptied with one hand, while keeping watch one the three through his peripheral, they were getting antsy.

  
He was about to warn them again when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, his head tilted to the side before he smiled to himself, when he recognized who it was.

  
“Took you long enough, how’d you find me?” Stiles’ asked the surrounding darkness.

  
The three musketeers-he dubbed his three captives-looked at him as if he were insane, and it made his smile stretch into a grin.

  
Someone gasped around the same time he felt a presence behind him, Stiles didn’t bother looking up, he knew it was Derek who’d found him. He was pretty sure the creeper wolf was glaring at the hunters in all his red-eyed menacing glory, which worked out for him.

  
“Guess it was the gun shot, glad you were close enough to hear it.” Stiles said as he found one of the duffels and unzipped it. Inside was a cache of more weapons and bullets.

  
“How are we on matches?”

  
Derek huffed in answer; Stiles counted it as a win that he knew what Derek meant.

  
“Okay, how are we on bullets?”

  
Derek didn’t answer that time, which made the teen look up at him for the first time. Dry blood was smeared here and there across his torso and arms, there was also a few holes in his pant legs. He met Derek’s eye and that was all he needed, without a second thought he confiscated there wolfsbane bullets and a hunting knife-as a precaution. Stiles threw it all into his new mini duffle and zipped it up.

He stood a little shakily, the adrenalin had begun to ware off a few minutes ago and now he was suffering the consequences of running for days on nothing but water.

  
Stiles took one last look at the three musketeers and turned his back on them, he’d celebrate his win later when he was far away from them, safe with Derek.

  
With less stiffness the expected he walked away form them and their little camp. Derek was most likely warning them with his murder brows to not follow, or to do anything stupid.

  
A minute later they were walking, Derek’s hand finding his as he began walking ahead.

  
He was glad Derek had found him so quickly, he had no qualms about the wolf taking the lead, after all he was the alpha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope my action scene wasn't to lame, some of these scenes were running in my head for days before I wrote them down.
> 
> hope you liked this chapter, and I'll se you guys next week!
> 
> Love you!


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey-o!
> 
> Sorry for the late update, family drama threw off my mindset and I didn't have the energy to post, but here I am on a better day! I really liked writing this chapter, so I hope you guys like it!

Stiles hissed in pain as Derek’s thumb lightly tugged at the small cut on his left cheek bone, that huntress had managed to split the skin there and he hadn’t noticed till Derek had pointed it out. Now Stiles sat on a rock at the banks of a river with Derek leaning over him inspecting his face and body for injuries, the river they occupied was about nine feet across and at least four feet deep, the water ran clear and clean.   
Derek had already rebandaged the cut on his arm, it hadn’t opened completely which Stiles had been thankful for. Derek had communicated via eyebrows that he was not happy with the teens recently acquired wounds and bruises, making the teen huff in exasperation.

  
“Stop that.”

  
“Stop what?” The wolf questioned.

“Judging me with your eyebrows.” Stiles answered with a frown.

  
Derek’s brow furrowed in confusion, almost making the teen laugh. “I’m not judging you.”

  
“Then why do you keep frowning?” The teen questioned as he raised one hand up towards the wolf’s brow, squarely placing a lone index finger at the center of Derek’s brow like he’d done a few days before.

  
Derek huffed as he spared the teens finger a single glance before he gently grasped Stiles’ hand and pulled it down so he could inspect the bruises that had formed on his knuckles.

  
“I don’t like you being hurt.” The wolf said as he grabbed the canteen full of cold river water, and while still holding the teens hand he poured the water over the angry swollen flesh.

  
“It could’ve been worse.” Stiles admonished softly.

  
That didn’t sooth the wolf’s concern, in fact it only earned the younger man an irritated growl in answer.

  
“Look, Derek I did what I had too, I worked with what I had and came out on top. I really could’ve ended up worse then I am right now, don’t fault me for surviving.” Stiles said solemnly.

  
“I’m not faulting you for doing what you have to do. I get frustrated because I forget that you’re not a wolf and you can’t heal like I can, if you get injured or sick in some way and it’s something I can’t fix then you’re down for the count, and I’m not going to leave you behind.” Derek said as he moved on from Stiles’ right hand to the other, it wasn’t as bruised as the other, but the cool water would help with the minor swelling.

  
“Derek, you made me promise to go on without you if something happened to you. You know I wouldn’t forgive myself if you got taken down with me. I refuse to leave the people I care about behind, but if it comes down to it, you need to get back home to them, back to the pack, to my dad. Tell him I fought tooth a nail, that he raised me right and I didn’t go down without a fight, and that I kicked some serious ass out here…tell him that I love him, that I remembered everything he taught me.” Stiles said, his voice cracking as a few tears slid down his face.

  
Derek felt an ache in his chest, making his jaw clench. He wanted to berate Stiles, there was no way he wasn’t getting out of this alive. But he knew that if he spoke out it would ensue another argument between them, he also knew that it would worsen Stiles’ mood. Derek wanted to reassure him that everything would work out as it should, but anything that popped into his head just sounded like the beginnings of an argument, so he bit his tongue and pulled the teen into his arms. He could hear and feel Stiles’ shaky breath against his ear, and Derek held him as he let the teen cry silently into his shoulder. The constant loom of death hanging over them wasn’t anything new to either of them, but to always come so close so often was chipping at their defenses with each passing hour. What they had in their favor was resilience, and it was what kept them going, what they used to push themselves up or to pull themselves back together. They also had a wish to return home to their makeshift broken families that were a work-in-progress all around, they had something driving them, something to look forward to if-no when-they made it home.

  
They stayed like that for few minutes before Stiles pulled himself back together, it wasn’t because he felt the need to hide his tears, no, it was because the tears were running into the cut on his cheekbone and it stung like a mother.

  
He hissed as he pulled back, just barley managing to keep himself from running a hand across the wound to try and sooth it.

  
Derek smiled softly at him. “Here, let me.”

  
Stiles watched as Derek pulled out one of the gauze pads, pull the thin wax paper open and splashed some of the water onto it, he then proceeded to dab the cut gently till it was more or less clean, he would disinfect it in a bit.

  
“I am proud of you.” The wolf said moments later as he worked.

  
The teen sputtered for a few seconds, the next word he said coming out strangled. “P-proud?”

  
“Is that so hard to believe?” Derek asked, ignoring the teens irritated look at his question being answered with a question.

  
“Yes, you never give complements, much less praise someone for a job well done.” Stiles answered.

  
“Well believe it or not, I am. Not many wolves can go up against experienced hunters and survive, much less humans.” Derek said as he applied some of the disinfectant to the wound, Stiles didn’t make any noise of discomfort, but his jaw did clench.

  
“I don’t think that deserves praise, all of them were roughly the same age as me, aren’t hunters trained for the age of seven to hunt.” Stiles said with a slight frown.

  
“They’re trained,” Derek began as he pulled out a bandage from the kit, “to hunt supernatural creatures, they weren’t expecting to be outsmarted by human the same age as them.” He finished as he stuck the band-aid to the teens skin, protecting the cut from the majority of outside contaminates.

  
Stiles frowned up at the older man. “Do you’ve a fever, or something?” He questioned as he placed his hand on Derek’s forehead, trying to gauge his temperature.

  
The wolf snatched the teens hand from his forehead, making sure to be gentle, lest the teen acquire more bruises to add to his ever-growing collection.

  
“What I’m trying to say is that you fared better then I think any of my wolves did, they won’t underestimate you again.”

  
“Yeah, I’m not to sure about that, they’ll just say I got lucky.” Stiles said trying to downplay everything.

  
“No, they won’t, the only way they’ll get free is if the others come to get them, they’ll have to tell their superiors what happened, how you outsmarted them. The adults will chalk it up to lack of proper training, which will work for us because if they keep underestimating us, the harder time they’re going to have catching us.” Derek explained as he began packing up the kit.

  
Stiles mulled over the information as he shifted his position on the rock so that his feet-still completely bare-swished through the rolling currents of the river. Derek was right about others underestimating him, it happened time and time again. From enemy’s and friends alike, even Derek had underestimated him once before. It was then that he realized that the wolf hadn’t done it again since, he relied on Stiles’ intellect and quick thinking. Sure, they argued more often then not, but later Stiles would realize that Derek had indeed been paying attention to him when others hadn’t.

  
Maybe this could work to their advantage, in any aspect they had to stay on their toes regardless of whether or not the hunters would tread carefully or run in guns blazing like they seem to be doing more and more.

  
Guns blazing…he thought as he kicked his feet, he looked up at the blue sky, to the trees across the river, then down to where Derek knelt over their bags. He looked at the dried and caked on blood all over the wolf’s abdomen, if not for the bullets Stiles’ had gathered the wolf would’ve been dead four time over at least.

  
They were getting desperate.

  
_“Looks like we win the race…”_

  
The hunter’s voice echoed in his head, and it clicked. They were hunting them for sport, but it looks like they had made a game out of it. Who could kill the creature first wins? That hunter had said _race_ instead of _prize_. Which meant that they were more than likely on a clock. Stiles guessed that they couldn’t spend all summer hunting them down, so the closer they got to their deadline the more anxious and trigger happy they got. When someone got desperate, they got sloppy, plans that should be well thought out became botched and fell apart with ease. Which would explain why they hadn’t been able to capture or subdue either of them last night, so either their plans were going to continue to fall apart or they’d group up in one last ditch effort to take them down.

  
_“Rats in a maze.”_

  
Stiles’ mind supplied, and he couldn’t help the grin the spread across his face.

  
“Stiles?”

  
Stiles’ head snapped up from where Derek had been crouched, it was now that he realized he’d been staring at the wolf’s feet, lost in his scheming.

  
“What?” He questioned.

  
“You had that look on your face, the one that says your mind is running a mile a minute, then you started grinning.” Derek explained with a single brow raised in question.

  
Stiles’ grin returned, full of sharp edges and too many teeth. It had Derek’s heckles rising at the wolf like nature the teen so easily displayed, it made his wolf hesitate for a second but stand tall in approval.

  
“They’re getting desperate.” Stiles said.

  
“They are?” Derek questioned.

  
The teen nodded as he looked out across the river then back at the older man.

  
“I was thinking back on how they’ve been acting and correlated it with things they’ve said. My guess is they’re on some sort of timeframe, that or we’ve lasted longer than any other they’ve hunted before and it’s become more of a hinderance to hunt us down then something they enjoy, which I love, any chance I get to make some assholes life even more of a living hell brings me great joy. Anyway, they’re getting desperate which means they’ll get sloppy and make mistakes. It’ll make it easier for us to screw with any plans they’ll make.” Stiles said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

  
“You’ve got a plan.” Derek said, it wasn’t a question.

  
Stiles tilted his head to the side a look of consideration on his face. “I’ve got the beginnings of a plan.”

  
“But it’s a plan?”

  
“Rats in a maze.” Stiles answered without further explanation.

  
Derek frowned as he contemplated what Stiles had said. Rats will follow the path that is laid out for them as long as it leads them to where the prize is. A look of realization dawned on his face as he caught onto what he was sure what Stiles was getting at.

  
The grin had never left Stiles’ face during his whole spiel and now that Derek had caught onto what Stiles was thinking he matched the teens with his own.

  
Just as Derek was about to question him further about what the teen had planned, Stiles had waved him off. “Later.” Was all he said as he turned back towards the river, his grin had faded but he hadn’t lost that glint in his eyes.

  
Part of Derek didn’t want to wait, as fast as he knew Stiles’ mind was, he also knew that when it came to these type of situation, things needed to be planned thoroughly and carefully. 

  
Resigning himself to wait for Stiles he decided now was as good as time as ever, to get clean. The dry blood on his skin was uncomfortable and itchy, so he began stripping himself of his remaining clothes.

  
“What are you doing?” Came Stiles’ slightly manic voice.

  
“Taking a bath.” Derek answered as he kicked off his boxers.

  
“Now?” The teen questioned.

  
“Yes, I rather not run around with dried blood stuck to my skin.” 

  
By now Derek had made it in till the water reached his waist, this river wasn’t to deep so he didn’t have to worry about a sudden change in the current and if any danger reared it’s head, he could make it out of the water fast then any human could. The temperature was cool, maybe to cool for a human but the glaring sun helped keep the balance.

  
He turned to look at where the teen was still perched, the river ran deeper where he sat so he could kick his feet easily without worrying about scraping his feet against the riverbed.

  
Derek could tell that Stiles was pointily not looking at him, what he couldn’t tell from this distance whether he was being modest or if he was embarrassed. He wasn’t going to waste any time trying to figure it out. He focused on cleaning himself and the water that cooled his overheated skin.

  
“You should probably jump in too, try not to get any of your bandages wet.” Derek said.

  
He turned his back to the teen knowing that Stiles had a sense of modesty that Derek lacked, but he was willing to adhere to it, if it made the teen more comfortable. He smiled to himself when he heard Stiles muttering and cursing under his breath, the cursing grew louder, and Derek was pretty sure Stiles was fighting a losing battle with his clothes. It was confirmed moments later when he heard a startled yelp and a rather loud crash into the river.

  
Derek rolled his eyes behind closed lids before turning to face where he was sure the teen had fallen. Various limbs were flailing above the surface for a second before the teens head broke free, he cursed under his breath as he moved to sit up, trying his best to spit out any water that had made it into his mouth.

  
The older man couldn’t help the amused smile that pulled at his lips, Stiles must have sensed his amusement on some level because not even a second later the teen was glaring at him over his shoulder.   
He twisted around so that his upper half was facing Derek and pointed at him before saying. “Not. A. Single. Word.”

  
It had the opposite effect however and made the smile on Derek’s lips broaden.

  
Stiles huffed and rolled his eyes, the teen debated on whether or not he should sit there and sulk or try and get clean, well as clean as one could get in a river.

  
He opted on getting clean, might as well, seeing as his bandages were now ruined and Derek would have to redo them, he was not looking forward to that in the slightest.

  
Stiles waded out a little father, so that he could at least sink a bit father beneath the surface and clean of the mud and light sheen of dirt that had settled on his skin. He kept a reasonable distance form Derek and took a small moment to just enjoy himself and the sound of rushing water. It was soothing in more ways then one, since he could let his guard down just a little bit, it helped that he had an alpha werewolf by his side, else he would’ve got in and got out with out a second to spare.

  
“I told you to be careful.”

  
Stiles yelped before cutting it off by slapping his hands over his mouth, he turned to glare at the wolf behind him, slamming his hands into the water in frustration. “Stop doing that!”

  
Derek raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “you shouldn’t let your guard down.”

  
“Yeah well, I figured I could get away with letting it down just a little, with you being here and all. I wasn’t expecting you to sneak up on me and scare me half to death.” Stiles bit out as he glared at the older man.

  
Derek’s face was blank, Did Stiles trust him that much? Yeah sure he asked the teen to trust in a life-and-death situation, but not with something like this. They were okay right now, no danger lurked anywhere near by, so they could afford to let go even if it was for a few seconds. It was something else for Stiles to trust him while they were relatively safe. Derek didn’t trust easy, but here was Stiles doing it, but then again who else could he rely on?

  
“Is it really that hard for you to believe that I would trust you, Derek. You asked me to trust you, and I will. I mean, now I see why you have trust issues.” Stiles said.

  
“Am I really that easy to read?” Derek questioned.

  
“No.” Stiles answered easily. “But I think I’ve spent enough time looking at your face to figure out what you’re really trying to say sixty percent of the time.”

  
“And the other forty?”

  
“Eyebrows of doom.”

  
Derek frowned in confusion.

  
“See, those right there.” Stiles said with a wave of his arm, unintentionally splashing the alpha in the face.

  
Any further conversation halted; well Derek hadn’t done much talking and whatever Stiles had been about say died on his lips when he realized what he’d done.

  
Derek debated on whether or not he should get the teen back but had ultimately decided against it. This wasn’t a place to have fun…maybe if they were in another place and time he would’ve acted on the impulse, but here and now he couldn’t. Part of Derek ached for that carefree fun he had when he was a kid, and those small moments he’d gotten with Laura over the past six years. He wanted them, but he couldn’t have them, maybe he’d get lucky and have few in the future after they got out of this mess.

  
Derek moved closer to the teen who in turn pulled his face back, his eyes widening. Anticipation and a touch of anxiety filled Stiles’ movements, reminding Derek of a skittish cat. The wolf raised one hand to the teens face, his left eye twitching slightly when Derek’s fingers got to close.

  
“when you’re done washing up, let me know so I can change your bandages.” The wolf said before ripping off the band-aid he’d placed on the teens face, it was barley clinging to Stiles’ skin to begin with. Derek had agreed not to give into his impulse to play, but he hadn’t said he’d pass up the opportunity to mess with the teen when he got the chance.

  
Stiles’ eyes zeroed in on the band-aid that had just been stuck to his face a second ago. “You love messing with me, don’t you?”

  
Derek shrugged. “You make it to easy.”

  
Stiles was one second away from going into a full-on rant when Derek turned from him and began making his way to shore. “The sun will start setting soon, better get out so you can dry off properly.”  
Stiles glared at Derek’s retreating figure till he realized the water was covering less and less of the man lower half. He quickly turned away resolutely ignoring the heat filling his cheeks and dunked himself under.

  
Stiles broke the surface seconds later and began making his way to shore, Derek was already dressed and had his back facing the teen, and by dressed he meant that he had only his pants back on. 

  
Once he’d reached the shore he saw that his clothes had been laid out for him, even though he didn’t want to he felt he should at least put something on, so he pulled on his boxers and returned to his former position on the rock he’d vacated about twenty minutes earlier to dry off. He surveyed the area around him and noticed that the terrain was changing, there was less forest here and the ground was slowly becoming rockier. They could probably push a few more miles but there was less to keep them hidden, so they would have to turn around eventually and head back south into the forest if they were going to make it home.

  
Derek was at his side again, he’d begun pulling off his soaked bandages and stored them away in one of the empty containers they had, it had been filled with more self-igniting matches which Stiles had transferred to another bag, well away from the wolfsbane bullets they acquired.

  
“Once you’re dry and dressed, we’ll find some cover and I’ll hunt us something to eat, okay?” Derek said as he examined his arm before leaving it be.

  
“Sounds like a plan, you’re not going to bandage it?”

  
“It needs to dry properly first, then I’ll clean it again and cover it.”

  
An hour passed, and by then Stiles had deemed himself dry and pulled on his remaining clothes, careful of the fresh bandages Derek had given him.

  
“We’re we headed?” Stiles asked as he gathered up his ruck sack, shifting its weight so it sat comfortably on his right shoulder.

  
Derek was adjusting his own. “East, I can make out a cliffside, and I smell a storm coming. I’ll have to go on ahead when we reach the cliffside, there might be bears that are waking up from hibernation, or moose.

  
“Well I knew I was forgetting something; bears are native to British Columbia, but don’t they start waking in the spring? It’s like early summer now.” Stiles said.

  
“Even if they’re not hibernating, we still need to cautious of them-especially the mothers.”

  
“So, wouldn’t it make more sense if I stuck with you? What if you go on without me to check and see if anyone’s home and a bear just happens to find me while you’re away?” Stiles said, ending it with a slight purse of his lips.

  
“I’d hear them before they’d reach you, and there’s no way I’d leave you alone if one was nearby.” Derek said.

  
He’d already been making his way east along the river Stiles only steps behind him. Then they made their way back into the forest but kept to the path the alpha was laying out.

  
The trek there wasn’t was far as Stiles had thought, which he was grateful for since he now lacked proper footwear, or perhaps he was finally getting use to the distances they traveled. The teen tried to keep himself occupied with the games Derek had invented for him, Stiles wasn’t sure if it had been for the sake of Stiles’ sanity or Derek’s. Either way they helped, not as good as his meds, but they helped.

  
Stiles noticed when Derek’s steps had slowed, he knew better then to ask what was going on vocally. He relaxed slightly when he caught Derek’s eye ad saw that the alpha wasn’t as on edge as he would’ve been if there had been hunters.

  
Stiles felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end just as the sound of low rumbling reached his ears. It was then that he realized the Derek was growling, not the full-on growling that practically made the ground shake and reverberated with so much force that you felt it at your core. It wasn’t as terrifying, but it was warning to whatever was near by that posed a threat.

  
When the growl faded there was this almost deafening silence all around them. Stiles was pretty sure that even though the alpha was being careful, he’d probably scared off any animals within a two-mile radius. They stood stock still for about a minute, Stiles didn’t dare move till Derek did.

  
When they finally moved on and Stiles had realized that he’d been coiled tight in preparation for anything that could’ve happened, whether it would’ve been to run or fight, he’d been ready. He realized then how much this was changing him, it wasn’t necessarily the place but the situation…Stiles wondered idly if anyone back home would recognize him when he got back, he hadn’t taken a life but he was changing every hour of every day he spent here running for his life, would he be the same person when he finally returned home?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed, I'll see ya'll nect week!
> 
> Love you!


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys!
> 
> I'm back, I hope you guys like this chapter, it was a little difficult to write at one part, but I got through it. it's also a little weak in my opinion, but oh well...
> 
> anyway, enjoy...sorry it's a little short this time.

They had made camp in a small cave; it was a lot like the one they had stayed in earlier when they had first got here, but it was a few feet deeper. The only difference was that a huge slab of rock jutting out from the top of the caves mouth a few feet like a restaurant awning, he was just glad there were no bears in sight. Derek had come back with a decent kill, still not something he liked to think about it, but he was steadily making his peace with it. This was his life right now, and he’d have to be an idiot to pass up any food Derek caught could get for them.

  
They had a small fire going, like before it was big enough to cook their food and offer warmth but not big enough to make out from a far distance. The trees of the forest curved close to the cliffside but gave a wide gap so they could see a good portion of the sky clearly. They were still at ground level, and the cliffside was almost as tall as the trees. Stiles had watched the entire trek here as the ground rose higher and high and the river twisted away from view.

  
They still had a few hours before sunset, so there really wasn’t much to do till then, though Stiles was trying to think of something to do.

  
“You should sleep.” Derek said as he tossed a random twig into the fire.

  
“What about you?” Stiles asked.

  
“Stiles.”

  
“What? I know for a fact that you haven’t gotten a wink of sleep in the time we’ve been separated.”

  
Derek glared at the younger man over the fire, he had a point. Derek hadn’t gotten any sleep since they’d been separated, he also knew the same was true for Stiles, he had the markings to prove it.

  
“Fine, we’ll both rest for a bit, but I’ll keep watch at night.”

  
Stiles looked like he was about to protest but then thought better of it, he sighed heavily as he moved to stand. His bare feet barley making a sound as he walked over to where Derek was sitting, he was closer to cave wall so all he had to do was scoot back. It was a familiar position they’d been in many times before since they got here. It made it easier to just get up and go at a moment notice if they needed to.

  
Stiles slid down beside the alpha and rested his head on the wolf’s shoulder. He felt no urge to talk, but days of running had sapped him of any excess energy his brain had created. Instead he watched the flames dance and let them lull him to sleep.

  
“Stiles.”

  
The teen jerked awake, scrambling to grab ahold of the wolf that was beside him. but Derek wasn’t next to him, he was above him?

  
“Derek? What? Is everything okay?” The teen questioned.

  
He realized then that he was laying down on his side, Derek must have left him to sleep while he kept watch outside. The sun had long since set, but there was still some light from the moon, whatever portion of it that was showing that is.

  
“Everything’s fine, but there’s something I want to show you.” Derek said.

  
“Okay?” Stiles dragged out as he moved to stand, his body aching.

  
Derek waited for him to stretch out a bit, then took his hand and lead him out of the cave. They went left a few feet till they were out from under the rock awning, then Derek had him face the wall of the cliffside with a simple order to follow as he scaled the wall with ease.

  
Stiles hesitated for a second wondering what Derek wanted to show him. Hand and foot holds were easy to find, when he was a few feet from where the stone awning began Derek’s hand suddenly appeared in front of his face, he took it gratefully and allowed the wolf to help him up the rest of the way.

  
“Look.” Derek said, not giving Stiles a moment to get settled.

  
He followed to where the older man was pointing, and his eyes widened.

  
He’d never seen so many stars in his life, not even at Beacon Hills preserve. It was even better than all those pictures he’d seen online. Clusters of stars stretched across the sky as far as Stiles could see, varying from color, brightness, and size.

  
“It’s amazing.” Stiles breathed out.

  
“Isn’t it?” Derek asked rhetorically.

  
Stiles could only nod as he stared up at the sky.

  
They sat side by side, Derek watched Stiles watch the stars for a few moments, a small smile playing on his lips, he’d already had his fill of them before he’d jumped down to wake the teen.

  
“Can you find the big dipper for me?” Derek asked, after a moment.

  
Derek watched as the teen’s brow pulled down into a frown as he glanced at the alpha. Without a word he returned his eyes to the sky and began searching for the constellation. A few minutes passed before the teens arm stretched out, his fingers pointing in the direction of where Derek knew the constellation lay.

  
“Is it upside down?” the teen question.

  
Derek nodded. “From this position it’s known as the southern cross, because it always rests in the southern hemisphere. If we ever get separated or something happens to me, follow it, it always leads south.”  
Stiles turned his eyes from the stars to look at Derek. Without a word he reached out and took hold of the alpha’s hand, Derek gently squeezed back.

  
“Thank you.” Stiles said softly.

  
There was no need to argue over whether or not they’d survive this together. Everything had already been said, they had proven time and time again to each other that they weren’t going to give up on each one-another or leave the other behind. Things weren’t set in stone, so Stiles decided to relish this moment of beauty and relative peace while it lasted.

  
Fear still lingered in them both.

  
There was a part somewhere inside Stiles that knew that they’d both make it, or they’d both die out here. It was sobering to think about, but it also lit a fire inside him, he was going to do whatever it took to make sure that the former succeeded.

  
Something was going to happen when they returned to the woods, Stiles could feel it. There was something about the forest they were in, if the teen focused on it and thought back to everything they’ve been through, it was like the forest was helping them. It thrummed and pulsed to its own beat, but it seemed go out of its way to assist them when they were stuck in a situation or needed to escape…the question that weighed on Stiles’ mind was, why?

* * *

Noah watched the wolves spar in front of the old Hale house; Derek had been on the right track but from what he learned from his main three was that his methods were little to be desired. The three of them, Chris, Peter, and himself had come up with a plan. Peter would teach them how to be proper wolves, Chris would teach them how to face hunters, and Noah would teach them how to fend of regular humans without causing serious injury. He’d made it a point to teach them that when he learned about how Erica had knocked his son out with a piece of his car, and how at one point they had gone after Ms. Martin when they thought she was something she wasn’t. They needed to learn practicality, restraint, and to at least think with a little common sense.

  
The pack had taken to learning how to fend off hunters and humans easily, what they struggled with-well what the betas struggled with was learning how to be wolves, each one exceled in areas that others struggled in, and instead of trying to help each other out, they would gloat and flaunt what they could do that someone else couldn’t.

  
Noah sighed heavily as he watched Isaac brag about how he had the best nose. These kids were in for rude awakening one of these days, they’d all been through shit in their lives, but they still hadn’t grasped the concept that things were serious now. The ones who were actually trying to learn everything they could were Lydia, Allison, Boyd, and surprisingly Erica. Though Noah chalked that up to the other day when he gave her some much need advice and a shoulder to cry on.

  
Peter had just been about to put his foot down when he stiffened, and as Noah looked around, he noticed that all the wolves were as ridged as statues.

  
Noah was about to ask what was wrong when Chris held a lone finger to his lips, with a small jerk of the head he signaled to his daughter and they both seemed to vanish between the trees. Out of habit and instinct Noah had a hand on his gun, the wolves were quick to flank him and Lydia, three wolves for the both of them. Now he knew why Chris and Allison had chosen to hid, if they’d of stayed the wolves would’ve fanned themselves out further to protect the humans of the pack, though all of them knew the hunters were capable of taking care of themselves, it still helped them in the long run too fight as a unite-or in this case, a pack.

  
…So, the kids were actually listening to them.

  
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to get you all worked up. I promise I come in peace.” Someone said as they emerged from the trees adjacent to the road that lead away from the Hale house.

  
The man that appeared before them seemed normal, he had long black hair that went down to his shoulder, his skin the shade of almonds and his eyes were a strange contrast to his skin tone, they were a startling white blue. He had sharp cheek bones, an angled jaw, and a small nose. He was probably a few inches shorter then Boyd and had a decent amount of muscle on him, much like Peter did. There was something about him that set Noah’s instincts off, he didn’t know what it was, but he knew that this man couldn’t be trusted.

  
“Was there something you needed?” Peter questioned, he looked and sounded as relaxed as ever from where he stood next to the sheriff.

  
“Just a fellow alpha passing through. I was wondering if it wouldn’t be to much of a problem to meet with alpha Hale?” The man said with what appeared to be a genuine smile.

  
“He’s out of town at the moment, dealing with some business with another pack member.” Peter answered smoothly.

  
“Oh, what a shame, when do you think he’ll be back, I was really hoping to establish a pack treaty with him.” The man said, he looked putout by the news that Derek wasn’t here to great him.

  
“Well, you know how pack business is at times. I’ll be sure to let him know you passed through and your reasons. I’m sure Derek would be happy to meet with you.” Peter said, plastering a cheerful smile on his own face.

  
The man tilted his head in a nod, his chin jutted out slightly. “Very well, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. My name is Marek, and I hope to meet with you again.”

  
As quietly as he came the man turned and vanished through the trees, it took a few minutes before the wolves all relaxed. Peter sighed heavily; his jaw clenched.

  
“What’s wrong?” Erica questioned.

  
“We haven’t seen the last of him.” Noah answered; he knew it in his gut that they hadn’t seen the last of that man.

  
“What do you mean?” Scott questioned.

  
“You mean you couldn’t tell?” Isaac asked the other boy.

  
“There’s something not right about him.” Boyd cut in.

  
“I think you guys are reading to much into this.” Jackson said snidely.

  
“Clearly you were paying attention, glad to know at least some of you aren’t as incompetent as you seem.” Peter said dryly.

  
“There’s blood on his hands.” Lydia said hauntingly.

  
Everyone turned to look at her, barley noticing that Allison and her dad had come out of hiding to join them.

  
“what’s going to happen Lydia?” Peter asked, taking a step towards the banshee.

  
Her eyes landed on the elder, anger burned in them making the wolf take a step back.

  
“He’s killed before, and he’ll do it again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we've got our other villain in the mix, in truth I don't like him as a character and as a character I made, because he isn't as flushed out as I want him to be, but I think it's because he's not that important, he's a one and done type deal, so don't be to upset with him, he's not sticking around ;)
> 
> I'll see you guy's next week!
> 
> Love you!


	17. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!
> 
> I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for all the comments and kudos, they really help during those tough days.
> 
> I hope you guys had/have an amazing day, I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you like it too!
> 
> P.S. Sorry it's rather short

The storm Derek had mentioned previously had come in the early hours of the morning. They both had spent the remainder of the night laying on their backs, star gazing. Conversations drifting between them easily in the last hours of the night, most of it just random stories from their childhoods. Stiles was saddened when the clouds had come rolling in, obscuring his view of the stars that could rarely be seen now a days due to light pollution. It was when a chilling, but strong wind had swept through the area that Derek had said they needed to make their way back inside the cave, not a second later after they were inside it had started raining, hard.

  
“Looks like we finally get a breather.” Stiles said as he watched the rain fall, the sky steadily lighting as the sun began to rise.

  
“We don’t know that for sure, some of them are tenacious.” Derek said from farther back in the cave.

  
Stiles turned to see him sitting where they had been sleeping earlier, tending to a new fire. With the sun rising and the heavy rain it’d be hard to notice a decent flame like this one. The teen made his way over to the wolf and sat beside him, Derek slung one arm over Stiles’ shoulder and the teen let his head fall on the older man’s shoulders.

  
“Think we’ll be able to get some sleep now?” Stiles questioned.

  
He could feel sleep settling in, being in front of a warm fire and hearing the rain fall, not to mention having someone to lean up against was beginning to settle something inside him. The forest seemed to be resting to as it drank in the down pour.

  
“Maybe, but we still can’t let our guard down.” Derek said as he tried to stifle a yawn.

  
Stiles just grunted in response as he let sleep take him.

* * *

Stiles wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep, and from what he could hear he knew it was still raining. He was laying on his back now and there was a pleasant weight on his chest. He opened his eyes and craned his neck up so he could see what was laying on his chest, all he could see was a mess of black hair and the slop of Derek’s nose. Stiles bit his lip resisting the urge to coo at the older man while he slept, instead he’d decided on running his hands through the wolf’s hair, something he wouldn’t have even thought about doing two weeks prior.

  
Two weeks ago, …

  
Had they only been out here for the better part of two weeks? It didn’t feel like it. He began to wonder how his dad was doing, no doubt staying at the station until Tara or Melissa made him go home because he’d spent to much time trying to figure who took his son and how to get him back. Stiles wasn’t going to make believe that his dad was ignorant of the supernatural now, with the pack alpha-less and Peter, there was no way he wouldn’t know now. Not to mention Melissa, he worried about her too. Finding out your son howled at the moon once a month the way she did was seven kinds of fucked up.  
And then there’s Scott, his best friend…or so they’ve been clamming for the past thirteen years, he wondered if it still held true, would they still be best friends by the time he got back home? Could they recover what was broken? And would they be able to fix it?

  
“What’s wrong?” Derek asked softly.

  
Stiles’ hand stilled in the man’s hair for a moment before continuing it ministration. Derek hadn’t startled him, but his question had made the teen wonder just how long the wolf had been awake and why he just let Stiles carry on with what he was doing to his hair.

  
“Thinking about Scott.” Stiles answered.

  
There was no use in putting off the conversation now, they had done it plenty of time before for whatever excuse they could come up with, well that Stiles could anyway.

  
“You still haven’t talked to him?” Derek asked.

  
“No, I don’t even know what to say.” Stiles answered.

  
Derek sighed, then lifted his head, sliding a hand across Stiles’ chest, letting it lay flat so he could rest his chin against atop it. Stiles pinned the hand he’d been running through Derek’s hair beneath his head so he could see the wolf better.

  
“No, you do know what to say, you just don’t want to say it.” Derek started. “He used you Stiles, maybe not in the way he used me, but he did. He lied to you, made you think everything was okay, that he was joining my pack so that everyone would be better off.”

  
Stiles looked away from the older man as he tried to control his emotions.

  
“Did he even ask you about the bruises?” Derek questioned.

  
Stiles’ eyes shot back towards the wolf.

  
“I could smell Gerard on you, his malice and hate. Erica and Boyd told me what happened. Did Scott even bother to ask what happened to you after the game? How you got away, what they did to you?”

  
Stiles’ jaw clenched as he stared at the wolf, no Scott hadn’t asked him about any of those things.

  
“I know what Scott did to me Stiles, and I’ve made my piece with it. But if he really wants to join my pack any time in the future, he’ll have to go through me first. He started a bond with me and broke it in one of the worst ways, so that’s where he’ll have to start.” Derek said.

  
“How can you still want him after everything?” Stiles asked.

  
“It’s not about want, Stiles, it’s about what we need. I need a strong pack and Scott is a strong wolf. If he wants to have a chance at being in my pack again then he has it.” Derek answered.

  
“But why?”

  
“Because of you, Stiles. You’re apart of my pack now, and I know how much Scott means to you, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make those in my pack happy. We’re stronger together than we are apart.”

  
Stiles’ eyes widened at what Derek had said, he would so readily forgive Scott of his transgressions just so Stiles could be happy so he could still have his best friend if everything worked out.

  
Stiles ran his free hand over his eyes. “I don’t even know what I want. Scott he…he got away with so much, everything just seems to magically work out for him at the last minute. Part of me doesn’t want to forgive him for what he’s done, for not caring about the repercussions and who gets hurt in the fall out. But, he’s my best friend, he’s my brother and I don’t want to lose him. I don’t know what to do.”

  
By this time, he was crying, forcefully pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes.

  
Derek could scent his hurt and frustration towards Scott, and he wanted nothing more then to make it all go away. A small spike of anger shot through the alpha as he wondered how Scott had managed to get such a loyal and trusting friend then treat him like he was replaceable, or something to take for granted. People like Stiles should be coveted, loved, and respected. Derek knew that Stiles would do anything for his best friend, but would Scott do anything for Stiles?

  
“Make him work for it.” Derek said firmly.

  
“What?” Stiles questioned as he pulled his hands from his face, the area around his eyes coated in tears.

  
“make him work for it,” Derek repeated. “you’re always willing to go above and beyond for him Stiles. Why not see how far he’s willing to go for you?”

  
Stiles frowned at the thought, how far was Scott willing to go for him? He saw how far he went for Allison and his mom. But in truth, how far was Scott willing to go for him, how much would he be willing to do in order to reconcile their friendship?

  
“What if it doesn’t work, and he doesn’t want to?” Stiles questioned.

  
“Then you’ll finally have your answer on where you guys really stand. He might end up not being your best friend, but he can still be your brother.” Derek said.

  
“Yeah,” Stiles sighed out. “not all friendships last forever.”

  
“No,” Derek agreed softly. “They don’t.”

  
Hours passed and the rain continued to fall, and Stiles’ stomach began growl. They had long since separated, Stiles was still laying on the ground and Derek was sitting next to the fire, it had died down to embers while they had slept but not Derek had it going again.

  
At the sound of Stiles’ stomach Derek’s head snapped’ towards the younger man.

  
“There’s no way you’re going hunting in this weather.” Stiles said from where he lay.

  
“You need to eat.”

  
“Traps are harder to spot in this weather.” Stiles reasoned.

  
“I’ll be careful, but I need to get you something to eat.” He stated.

  
Derek stood and walked around the fire, Stiles scrambled to his knees and reached out, his hand wrapping around Derek’s wrist.

  
They stared at each other for a moment.

  
“Be careful.” Stiles pressed, squeezing the alpha’s wrist firmly.

  
Derek wriggled his wrist free, grabbing the teens hand before it fell, he squeezed his hand firmly in solace then took off into the storm.

  
Stiles held the hand that Derek had grasped to his chest repeating over and over in his mind that the wolf would come back to him safe and sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emotions make everything better!
> 
> I've been wanting to write something like this for Stiles for a while, usually when I read about Stiles making a decision about Scott it's glossed over a bit, I wanted stiles to have a legit conversation about Scott and what he should do, losing friends hurts, especially when you've known them for over a decade. I want to see Stiles go through that, because losing friends isn't easy, so yes I'm going draw this out for a little bit till I decide if I want to keep Scott or not.
> 
> Anyway, hope you like this chapter a little bittersweet, but good.
> 
> I'll see you guys next week, love you!


	18. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! happy Monday! 
> 
> Hope everyone had a good week, or maybe an okay one?
> 
> Anyway, here's a new chapter, hope you like it.

The sun hung low in the sky, the rain had stopped and with it gone, Stiles’ agitation grew. He’d been counting the minutes since Derek had left, whatever Derek chose to hunt calculated to however long it was going to take him to get home. The longest he’d been gone at one point had been half an hour, thirty minutes was the stopping point, any longer and there was a problem.

  
Stiles had reached the twenty-minute marker and his agitation growing more, with each passing minute.

  
At twenty-five minutes he’d begun pacing, the trees passed the mouth of the cave shook and twisted in a wind Stiles couldn’t hear or feel from where he sat in the cave, their leaves shaking furiously, almost angrily. Stiles wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, so he tried not to pay attention to it too much.

  
_Thirty minutes_.

  
Stiles stood, the trees were still shaking and twisting, some even groaned as they shifted in ways that made their roots, branches, and trucks protest.

  
Something was wrong.

  
_Thirty-five minutes._

  
Maybe he was imagining things, Derek would be back soon to tell him was an idiot for worrying so much.

  
_Forty-minutes._

  
Stiles couldn’t wait any longer he grabbed one of the two bags they had and made his way into the forest, walking briskly. Within seconds Stiles had noticed that the trees hadn’t silenced their racket, and that even though he was here in the forest, he neither felt nor heard any shifting winds that could tell him that the strange actions he was seeing was something related to the weather. Controlling his breathing, he shut his eyes like he had the first day he’d been here, the pulse of the forest filled his senses, beating more rapidly than before. Every pulse feeding into his own, only now did he realize what the forest had been trying to say, and he’d stubbornly chose not to listen, and now it may cost both their lives.

  
The forest spoke one clear and powerful word, a need that was as primal as any given instinct.

  
_RUN._

  
The teen dropped the bag without a single care and ran, the trees seemed to follow him. the leaves above his head shaking and rattling back and forth as he ran, he realized then that the forest was trying to help him find Derek. So whichever way the tree leaves directed he followed without hesitation.

  
Unbeknownst to Stiles, the creature that had been tracking them since they’d set foot in this forest had found them, it now followed the teen at a safe distance, the forest had decided to guide the boy so the creature would follow and make its decision in due time.

  
Stiles wasn’t sure how long he’d been running, his legs and lungs ached, but fear and panic pushed him forward.

  
The trees stopped their frantic dance a few feet in front of Stiles, and he came skidding to a halt.

  
Gasping for breath he looked around for any sigh of Derek and found none.

  
Was he too late, had Derek already been killed?

  
Voices drifted towards his ears and on instinct he crouched down, only when the voices didn’t grow in volume or decrease, did he finally decide to find where they were coming from.

  
He ventured left and found he was heading the right way when the voices grew louder. They were happy, cheering even, like Jackson would when he was surrounded by his group of fellow douchbags-minus Danny. The sound of them enjoying themselves rubbed Stiles the wrong way, and as he got closer, he confirmed that they were hunters, though he expected no one else.

  
They were all in a circle around something, Stiles didn’t need to guess who they had, and he didn’t bother to count how many there were.

  
Stiles was in the midst of planning when Derek howled in rage and agony, all reason left Stiles as he broke out into a full sprint.

  
He had to get to Derek.

The teen had noticed earlier that they were using those leashes that animal control personal would use to catch…well animals. He figured that they were coated in wolfsbane or mountain ash so Derek couldn’t break free.

  
The hunters were too preoccupied with their celebration that they didn’t notice Stiles till it was too late. He barreled into the one of them on the right and grabbed ahold of the stick, he wasn’t sure how, but he managed to free one of Derek’s arms and then whack one of the hunters in the face with the leash-stick thing.

  
Derek roared and in an action that was to fast for Stiles to see he’s managed to free himself of the ones that were wrapped around his other arm and neck. Stiles was busy wailing on one of the hunters with his makeshift weapon when he was roughly shoved to the ground.

  
“Stay down.” Derek growled in his ear as gunfire rang out above them, before vanishing.

  
Stiles pulled himself up on all fours before shouting, “No!” petulantly.

  
The hunter he’d been whaling had vanished, which the teen was grateful for. He picked up his stick and readied himself for a fight. Panic gripped him when he felt arms snake around him from behind, said arms were trying to throw him to the ground.

  
_“Think smart, but quick!”_

  
Stiles pitched his body forward and whoever had him began to struggle with keep them both upright, in the next second Stiles jerked his upper half back. The back of his head collided with a sickening crack to the front of whosevers head was behind him. 

  
The person let go, an outraged but muffled curse on his lip.

  
Stiles wasted no time in twisting around, using the metal rod like a bat he cracked it over the-now that he realized-man’s head, and he fell to the ground. Stiles could make out the sheen of blood on the man’s face just before he kicked at his head, knocking the man unconscious.

  
Someone screamed and Stiles turned just in time to see some poor soul get dragged off into darkness. Stiles shouldn’t have found it funny, but the look on the man’s face and the sound of his scream had been priceless, he praised himself for not outwardly showing his amusement at the man’s misfortune. Any sympathy he’d held for his fellow man had all but flown out the window two weeks ago.

  
Stiles ducked as soon as he caught the barrel of a weapon pointing at him, when it let loose a barrage of bullets he lunged, tucked, and rolled. He sent a silent thank you to coach from where he hid behind a tree, he may suck at Lacrosse in general, but he still remembered his training.

  
Something moved to his right and Stiles swung, it was only Derek’s innate reflexes that save him from taking a thin metal rod upside the head.

  
His eyes were burning red as he held the rod in his clawed hand. “Are you okay?”

  
“Peachy, why aren’t you out their kicking ass?”

  
“I saw you getting shot at?”

  
“Key words: getting shot at, I’m okay. Continue being your wolf-y badass self, I’m okay here.”

  
“You sure?” Derek questioned.

  
Stiles held the rod with two hands like it was all the protection he needed, and in truth it might just be that.

  
Derek could help the small chuckle that escaped him as he nodded, he should really stop questioning Stiles, the teen always knew what he was doing…for the most part.

  
Derek nodded and Stiles returned the gesture as he watched the alpha fade into the shadows.

  
Stiles waited a moment; he didn’t move till he heard the sound of gunfire change direction followed by the sound of more screaming.

  
Stiles steeled himself before rushing out from behind the tree, ready to fight. His shoulders fell when he saw Derek facing off with a lone hunter, but that wasn’t what had made the teen falter. It was the sight of another hunter a few feet away, who was aiming his gun directly at Derek’s back.

  
Stiles ran, discarding the metal rod.

  
The sound of the gun firing rang in his ear.

  
Derek’s body went ridged.

  
Stiles’ eyes widened as he dove for the alpha.

  
Stiles crashed into the wolf and they both fell into darkness.

* * *

The pack had gathered at the sheriff’s house to discuss today’s events. They were all discussing what to do with this potential new foe while Lydia was in the kitchen getting drinks for everyone.

  
One Second, she was humming to herself as she poured drinks from the glass pitcher of water she’d found in the fridge, she was about to place the pitcher down when something came over her. Without meaning to she let go of the pitcher and it tumbled and clattered on the counter, spilling water everywhere, thankfully it didn’t break.

  
Peter, who always keep an ear out from anything, and everything had heard the sound of the pitcher tumbling and the water hitting the floor.

  
“Lydia?” He questioned aloud as he made his way into the kitchen.

  
The others picked up on Peter’s voice and change in mood, had followed him, most of them spilling into the kitchen. Lydia was still standing there, her hand still in the air motionless.  
She turned slowly, like she’d forgotten how to work her own limbs. Her head was tilted slightly to the left, her eyes vacant and unseeing, her plump lips parted slightly.

  
She exhaled out slowly.

  
“Lydia?” Peter questioned again.

  
Her head tilted in another direction.

  
“He’s dying.”

  
The sheriffs heart sank.

  
“Lydia, who’s dying?” Chris questioned.

  
Her head tilted towards him, still she saw nothing.

  
“Derek.” She said breathlessly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are building as we're reaching the end! I'm so excited for you guys to see what's going to happen next!
> 
> Everything's about to change, and it's going to be so much fun!
> 
> Hope you guys liked it, and I'll see you next week!
> 
> Love you!


	19. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry I couldn't update yesterday, family emergency happened
> 
> But I know you guys are going to love this chapter, I know I did, it's one of the many first scenes I had come up with for this story.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

They crashed down an incline clinging to each other tightly, no trees hindering their path. Now Stiles knew why they had survived their first fall, the forest was doing what it could to keep them alive for the most part, which meant controlling which way they fell down one of its naturally made inclines.

  
They both landed side-by-side at the bottom, Stiles groaned because the world was spinning out of control. He fought the spinning and managed to lurch himself at Derek, his fingertips pulling at the wolf’s skin.

  
“Derek, get up. We need to go.” Stiles said as he tried to focus on the wolf below him.

  
“Stiles.” Derek choked out.

  
“No, no, no, no. We’ve got to go.” Stiles said, the world had finally stopped spinning.

  
“Stiles go.” Derek said.

  
Black blood coated the corner of his mouth.

  
“No way in hell, no. I’ll go back and get some bullets, I’ll…” Derek had grabbed ahold of the teens arm and pulled Stiles towards himself roughly, cutting off whatever else he was about to say.  
“Stiles, you need to go, they’re coming, Go!” Derek said through gritted teeth.

  
Stiles shook his head rapidly. “No, we’re getting out of this together Derek!”

  
“I’m not going to be the reason you didn’t make it out of this!” Derek shouted.

  
“And I’m not leaving you to die!” Stiles countered.

  
Rough hands gripped Stiles’ shoulders and yanked him back, and much like back at the van Stiles fought to stay by his alphas side. His nails racking across the wolf’s skin then down his arm, another hard yank pulled Stiles back completely before he could grab the wolf’s hand.

  
Derek’s hand searched blindly for Stiles, for any part he could hold onto. Then something was painfully pinning Derek’s arm to the ground, he looked down and saw a combat boot pressing into said arm. Derek’s eyes soon found a face staring smugly down at him, then it was replaced by the barrel of a gun.

  
Stiles continued to fight against the hunters that were pulling him back as he reached out towards Derek.

  
When another hunter moves to stand over him, he struggles even more, his knees and feet tearing up the ground beneath him.

  
When he saw the man aim a gun at Derek, he screamed.

* * *

“Lydia, please tell me you’re joking.” Erica asked shakily, she had her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

  
“I would never joke about this.” The redhead responded from her new seat in the recliner in the living room. 

  
As soon as she had made the announcement about Derek, she’d come back to herself, Allison was quick to help her out of the kitchen and into the living room. Everyone had gathered around her but had given her ample room to breathe.

  
“I can feel it, even now,” She hugged herself as she fought back tears, in all the time she’d been a banshee she’d never once had to scream for someone she knew. “As the minutes drag on, the urge to scream his name is growing.”

  
Noah ran a frustrated hand through his hair, if Derek was dying what did that mean for Stiles? What had happened to his son? What was going to happen to his son?

  
“Then there’s nothing we can do.” Isaac said brokenly.

  
Erica, Boyd, and even Jackson moved over to there fellow beta and pulled him into their arms, they would feel Derek’s lose the most out of all of them, being Derek’s bitten wolves.

  
They had to wait for Lydia to scream their alpha’s death, so that’s what they decided to do, they would wait and hope that she wouldn’t, and if she did, they would hope she wouldn’t scream for Stiles too.  
Stiles’ scream was filled with every emotion he’d felt since he’d been kidnapped by Gerard, since he’d found out Scott had lied to him and hadn’t trusted him, since he found himself running for his life to stay alive because humans were insane and needlessly violent. His scream rang out into the forest, as tears ran down his face unabashed, his voice carried on louder than any human should be capable of till his body forced him to breathe in.

* * *

When his scream faded, a howl rang out into the air, loud and strong.

  
Stiles’ head shot up from where he’d been hunched over gasping for breath, his eyes searching for Derek, hoping it was him who howled, who’d somehow recovered and was about to kick some serious ass.  
Derek was still laying on the ground, the hunter still over him, his eyes seemed to be searching for the origin of the howl too.

  
The hunter over Derek looked like he was about to start asking some questions when something shot out form the incline and crashed into the men behind Stiles. Screams rose up from the downed men, filled with terror and pain.

  
The sound of flesh tearing reached Stiles’ ears as he turned to find a hulking figure. His eyes widened as he took at what was before him, a large albino Gray wolf glared at him from it peripheral, it’s gapping maw dripping with blood. Stiles heard a gun cock behind him and flinched as the wolf dove above his head.

  
A gun shot rang out followed by a yelp, then more screaming, plus sounds Stiles would rather not think about.

  
Stiles scrambled back towards where he knew Derek lie, he reached Derek and shook the man, his closed eyes shot open, then started to roll in his head.

  
“No, no, come on, Derek!” Stiles said as he held the man’s head in his hands.

  
“Stiles.” Derek breathed out.

  
The screaming had ceased.

  
Growling filled the air and Stiles’ head shot up, his eyes locking with the beasts before him. Its snout furrowed as it bared its teeth at the teen.

  
Stiles’ heart was pounding but he did the only thing he could think of he reached a hand over Derek and the growling intensified. Stiles planted his hand firmly on the ground and pulled himself over Derek while keeping eye contact with the wolf. He lowered himself slightly over Derek then did the last thing he wanted to.

  
He looked away and bared his neck.

  
The growling ceased at once, then the air was filled with another howl.

  
Stiles looked over at the wolf, it was no longer standing but laying down, panting heavily, its head lifted as it surveyed the area. Its ears perked and the sound of multiple howls filled the air, they didn’t sound as far away as Stiles would’ve liked.

  
Stiles’ arm gave out making him sprawl across Derek, the wolf’s hand shakily found his arm. He felt the ground pulse beneath him, and exhaustion washed over him.

  
‘No,’ he thought to himself. “I need to stay awake; Derek needs the wolfsbane.’

  
Stiles reached out towards one of the gun that lay a few feet away helplessly, his fingers clawing at the ground. The ground kept pulsing and even though he fought it, sleep came as he spoke one last word.  
“Derek…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh! I was re-reading and got caught up in my own suspense! lol
> 
> I forgot how intense this chapter was, things are about to get straight up mystical!
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys next week!
> 
> Love you!


	20. chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry it's day late, went out the night before with friends before everything closed for the pandemic, and wound up having a unscheduled sleep over xD
> 
> anyway, I'm back and excited to post this chapter for you guys, enjoy!

Lydia’s nails dug into the upholstery of the recliner as her breath grew labored. Fearful eyes were on her, all of them waiting to hear something they never wanted too. Some of them who’d though they wouldn’t care in the slightest if Derek kicked it, were dreading the loss they were about to feel, and guilt was beginning to worm its way into them.

  
Lydia’s breathing turned into a harsh, all of them sitting on the edge of their seats as her eyes clouded over, just as the scream was about to ring out, she gasped like she was about to choak and hunched forward.

  
“Lydia? What’s wrong?” Jackson questioned.

  
She sat up brushing her hair back from her face. “I don’t know, I was just about to scream his name…and now it’s gone.”

  
“Gone, like he’s dead?” Chris asked.

  
“No, just gone. He was about to die, I felt it, then it’s like something stopped it.” Lydia answered, her face twisted in confusion.

* * *

Stiles groaned loudly when he came back to consciousness, he rolled over a felt something soft beneath him…soft, where was he?

  
That wasn’t right!

  
“Derek!” Stiles shouted as he sat up, everything from the night before rushing back.

  
For a second, he thought he was dreaming, he was in a tent, a rather large tent. His hands ran through the blanket that was thrown over him and looked down. It was a fur blanket, the same went for what he’d been laying on. Dread filled him at the though of what he was surrounded by had once been the skin of a wolf or wolves, but they were too big to be wolf pelts…weren’t they?

  
Then he remembered the wolf from the night, and the howling.

  
But that didn’t explain how he’d gotten here, and where was Derek?

  
He was just about to get up when the tents flaps moved, he tensed. Then a man’s head popped in.

  
“Ah, good you’re awake, join us outside when you can.” The man said then vanished just as quickly as he’d came.

  
Stiles hesitated before getting up and making his way outside.

  
He pushed passed the flaps of the tent, squinting against the light. A massive lake stretched out before him, to wide and deep to gauge an accurate distance or depth.

  
Someone stood by the shore of the lake looking out over it, they were shirtless. Stiles zeroed in on the man till he could just make out an unmistakable tattoo.

  
Throwing caution to the wind he ran, not caring if he was gunned down on the spot. He nearly fell twice as he ran towards the man, he’d thought dead.

  
Derek turned to him when he was few feet away and caught Stiles effortlessly when the teen came crashing into him. Being the brick wall that he was he didn’t even shift to adjust his weight when laden with Stiles’ own.

  
“Derek.” Stiles said as he clawed at Derek’s bare back, still having a hard time believing the man was still alive.

  
“Stiles.” Derek answered in turn, holding onto the teen tightly.

  
“But how? You were dying, I saw you dying.”

  
“Perhaps I should explain.” Someone said from behind them.

  
Stiles clung to Derek protectively, though it must have looked rather amusing, a lanky human trying to protect the mountain that was Derek Hale.

  
“Good instincts, that one.” The man said as he gestured to Stiles.

  
Derek nodded in agreement, and Stiles was thoroughly confused.

  
The man began walking and Derek followed, leading Stiles by the hand.

  
“You too must be hungry; I know I’d be if I’d have been what you’ve been through.” The man said as he led them to a fireplace, he had an accent that Stiles couldn’t place. There was a pot sitting over the open flame, it sat on a circular metal grill with four metal legs that dug into the dirt around the fire.

  
The scent of whatever was in the pot made Stiles’ mouth water and his stomach growl noisily, when was the las time he’d ate?

  
The man sat before the fire; his legs crossed. He pulled out a piece of cloth from a bag that had been resting nearby and opened the lid of the pot, to what looked like a stew. His had olive skin and dark brown eyes, his brown hair was cut short and age lines cut deep into his face, even though he didn’t look or act old, it made you wonder how old this man truly was.

  
The man stirred the pot with a spoon he pulled from the same bag.

  
“You can call me Jonna if you like.” the man-Jonna said.

  
“Jonna?” Stiles questioned, as he moved to sit opposite the man, Derek following his lead.

  
“A lot easier to pronounce than my actual name.” Jonna said with a soft smile.

  
“guess that something we have in common.” Stiles said absentmindedly.

  
“Do we? Then what do you prefer to be called?” Jonna asked.

  
“Stiles.”

  
“Hmm, a path of steps that can only be used by humans, like a bridge. But it looks like you used your path to find your home with wolves instead of humans,” The man said as he tuned back to his bag and began pulling out individually clothed wrapped bowls, all of them made of wood. The insides were carefully sanded till smooth, while the outside was anything but.

  
“What?” Stiles questioned, he wondered if this man had a screw or two loose.

  
“The name you chose for yourself, did you not know it’s meaning?” Jonna questioned.

  
Stiles frowned. “My name means a path that only humans can use?”

  
“Well, yes, the animals that it refers to are livestock, but you get the picture.” Jonna said as he began scooping out servings. “And might I ask the meaning of your true name?”

  
Stiles answered after a moment. “Sword of glory, or famous man.”

  
Derek’s eyebrows reached his hairline, what kind of name did Stiles really have?

  
Jonna nodded his head from side to side as he moved to hand a filled bowl to Derek, then began filling another one. “Both names suit you well Stiles, and you’ve grown into all of them...well almost all of them”  
“What do you mean almost all of them, you make it sound like I’ve more than ones I have?” Stiles questioned as he accepted the bowl from the man.

  
It smelled delicious, but he didn’t dare eat it. He looked over at Derek who nodded in answer to his silent questioned. The man passed out metal spoons to them before clamming his own bowl and filling it.

  
“Were you not called Mischief at one point?” Jonna asked?

  
Stiles froze as he was lifting his spoon to his mouth. “How could you know that?”

  
“Your ancestors are numerous, most liked the name you gave yourself as a child, not to mention your mother.” Jonna said as he began to eat.

  
Stiles placed his bowl on the floor before he dropped it. “My-my mom?”

  
“Hmm, yes a strong and beautiful woman, who loves you dearly.”

  
“But how?” Stiles’ voice cracked as he said the last word.

  
“How Is it I know so much, yet I’ve only just met you?”

  
Stiles nodded.

  
“Ancestors rarely leave their families side, they may drift away from time to time, but they’re always with you. And I must say that you have a long lineage on both side of your family, not a lot of them have left your side since you’ve gotten here.” Jonna said as he continued to eat.

  
“So, you can see them?” Stiles asked.

  
“Not so much as see but hear. They were rather angry with me when they thought I was going to let you and your alpha die.” Jonna said with a smile.

  
At mention of Derek, Stiles looked over to him to see the wolf looking back, his bowl of stew sat on the ground, untouched like his own. Stiles frowned at the wolf knowing exactly why he hadn’t eaten just yet. The teen picked up his bowl and began eating, he had planned on eating it slowly but as soon as he swallowed down the first delicious bite, he’d begun scarfing it down without a care. When he was done, John took his bowl, refiled it, and returned it to him.

  
Stiles ate his second serving much slower. “So, you saved us?”

  
“I saved your alpha, you were fine.” Jonna corrected. “This forest has been here since long before man, and with hope it’ll be here long after we’re gone,” He paused as he took a bite of his food. “It was angry, angry at the senseless violence, killing, and bloodshed going on here year after year. Each time I arrived to late to help those before you. The forest had tried to assist those before you but most of them were either to fearful to truly listen or to far gone for the forest to reach. Then you were brought here, and you actually listened to it when it offered you safety or a place to hide. The forest protected you because you were not meant to die here like so many others that weren’t meant to as well. It protected you because it knew that you’d be able to put a stop to it or survive long enough for me or the others to lend a helping hand.”

  
“But the wolf from before…” Stiles trailed off.

  
“Was sent to find you by the forest, wolves do not like other wolves being killed on their lands even if they are werewolves and the like.” Jonna finished. “I found you unconscious and your alpha at deaths door, with the guidance of the forest I was able to save him, and in turn, you. Though your alpha nearly tore my head off when he regained consciousness, luckily with the help of the others we were able to communicate that we meant no harm and only wished to help. Once I was sure both of you weren’t in any danger of dying, I led your alpha here while he carried you, and set up camp.

  
“So, you’re?”

  
“Human? Yes.”

  
“The wolves then?”

  
“Just like any other wolves in the world. Which reminds me, come with me.” Jonna said as he stood effortlessly and beckoned them to follow, as he walked, he picked up a small satchel like bag and slung it over his shoulder.

  
Stiles had eaten about four bowls or the man’s stew by now, and Derek had had about eight, give or take. Jonna didn’t seem to mind feeding a slightly starving teen and alpha werewolf, he just kept refilling their bowls without a second glance.

  
They got up to follow, trailing a ways behind.

  
“You trust him?” Stiles asked.

  
“No, but so far everything he’s said was true.” Derek answered.

  
“He keeps mentioning others, who’s he talking about?”

  
“You’ll see.” Derek answered.

  
“Derek!” Stiles demanded.

  
“Just shut up and see for yourself.” Derek said as he kept walking.

  
Jonna lead them away from the lake and a little farther into the forest, then into a massive clearing. Huge boulders rose up from the ground here and there as they walked, most were covered in moss and other plant life. But it wasn’t the boulders that had caught Stiles’ attention, no it was the multitude of wolves scattered about the clearing that had Stiles freezing mid step.

  
About thirty some odd wolves watched him curiously and Stiles fought the instinct to run, they were huge and varied in colors and patterns. Without thinking Stiles pressed himself into Derek’s side, and he responded by pulling the teen towards him and tucking the younger man’s head underneath his chin. A few of the wolves cocked their heads to the side while other completely lost interest and moved on to something else.

  
Jonna lead them over to where a few of them lay, and as they got closer Stiles noticed a large patch of white fur surrounded by furs of other colors.

  
It was the wolf from last night.

  
Its torso was bandaged, and it’s breathing heavy, a wave of dread washed over him when he saw the other wolves lift their heads to inspect them, but the white one didn’t.

  
Jonna sat beside the injured wolf amongst the multitude of furry bodies, the others moving to make way for the man, and he pulled the wolf’s massive head into his lap, it huffed out through its nose but seemed to like resting its head in the man’s lap.

  
Derek sat, pulling a reluctant Stiles down with him, making sure their bodies were pressed against each other.

  
“They won’t harm you; they’d be asking for a death wish if they tried.” Jonna said as he scratched the wolf behind the ears, the others that had moved had come back and reclaimed their positions by their injured packmate.

  
Stiles stared at the wolf that had saved his life last night, he was grateful, but he didn’t want it to die because of him.

  
“Is he not going to make it?” Stiles questioned.

  
“No, his wound is to great.” Jonna said as he looked down at the wolf, a sad smile pulling at lips.

  
Derek’s arm snaked around him, giving him silent comfort.

  
“But you don’t need to worry, he will walk with you. As is the fate of all those who sacrifice themselves for another.” Jonna said.

  
“What do you mean?” Derek questioned.

  
“Any animal or person whose life has ended due to them sacrificing themselves so that others could live, will walk beside those they’ve saved. It is how things have always been, so don’t cry because his life is ending, because it is far from over.” Jonna said, his smile growing more genuine as he talked.

  
Stiles felt the earth pulse beneath him and at the same time Jonna looked up towards the treetops.

  
“I see,” he said. “Stiles, the forest seems adamant on offering you a gift, do you accept?”

  
Stiles frowned at the man. “What kind of gift?”

  
“The forest has seen your life. How you go out of your way to help those in need, but mostly those closest to you. Even if you hadn’t dragged your friend into the woods that night, you would’ve found your way into this world one way or another. Your fate was always to run with wolves, you soul is more akin to that of a wolf then a human. In order to help you in your future endeavors the forest is offering you the soul of the wolf who saved you, the wolf will continue to live on through you and in return you will gain many gifts.” Jonna said.

  
Stiles’ mouth fell open, why would the forest offer something like that to him, he hadn’t done anything of any real significance to earn such a thing. And also, to know that his life was always leading to the supernatural helped ease the guilt inside of him at partially being to blame for Scott being bit that night.

  
Derek growled next to him, putting the other wolves around them on edge. “You’re talking about changing him, turning him into a werewolf.”

  
“No Derek, he will not, nor will he ever be a werewolf. He will be a Wolf Soul.” Jonna said with such finality that it made Stiles shiver. “You turned down the offer to be a werewolf before, why would I offer it to you when I have no power to give it? You will still be human for the most part, your soul will coincide with the one of this wolf, till one day the two will become one, but you will still be human…with a few extra perks.”

  
Derek seemed to settle a bit at this, and the wolves around them relaxed as well.

  
Stiles sat there and thought about what Jonna had said, he knew he was on the clock with deciding but this was big, otherworldly in fact. But it meant getting home faster, being able to protect his family and friends better and not having to depend on other to finally listen to him when he could act himself and let the others catch up to him, but what if…

  
“You won’t be the monster that he was. I think it’d only fare, that you’d be able to keep up with the wolves you run with.” Jonna said, interrupting his thoughts.

  
Stiles looked at Derek in question.

  
“it’s your choice Stiles, whatever you choose I’ll stand by you.” Derek said in earnest.

  
Stiles took a deep breath and looked at the wolf, it was staring back at him in such firm conviction that he’d had found his answer.

  
“Yes.” He said confidently.

  
The ground pulsed beneath them and Jonna bowed his head slowly.

  
“Very well then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *gasp!*
> 
> Well that was intense!
> 
> Lol, I wasn't lying when I said things were going to get straight up mystical.
> 
> Now I know for a fact that there is a Rez in BC, Canada, I didn't want to step on anyone's toes or get stuff wrong so I opted to not use them for my story and just came up with Jonna.
> 
> Hope you liked it, and I'll see you guys next week!
> 
> Love you!


	21. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, hope you all are doing well and hanging in there, I'm so sorry I missed thee update last week, my job had me working hours I wasn't used to because of the quarantine so when I got home I was far to tired to post anything.
> 
> lucky for me, I get to take a mini break before I have to go back around the first week of April.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!

“Derek, I need you to step back.” Jonna said.

  
Derek did as asked, though he was reluctant to do so.

  
Derek felt an unspoken command wash over him and the other wolves, he watched as all of them stood and moved away from the three still on the ground, all of them watching with curious eyes. The ground started to pulse in a steady beat and the trees began to dance and sway in way the reminded Stiles of the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter.

  
The wolf laying in Jonna’s lap began to grow lax with each pulse.

  
“This ritual is as old as my tribe, to be able to take the form of an animal is the greatest gift one can ever be given. It doesn’t happen as often as it did centuries ago, but it is still something to be honored and respected. Your life from here on out will change and I hope it’s for the better. Distress and sadness weighed on me when I could not help save the others before you but helping you and your alpha return home is a relief I’ll gladly accept.” Jonna said as he reached behind him and pulled the bag over his shoulder and set it beside him.

  
He pulled out a bowl that was rather shallow in comparison to the ones they’d eaten out of earlier. Then he pulled out three small identical corked jar-like containers, a matchbook, and a ring of woven grass that was far too big to be a bracelet but maybe it could be a necklace or a crown of some sort?

  
Stiles watched as Jonna uncorked one of the containers, it was a deep earthy red and was most likely hand crafted.

  
“Tell me, you’re a curious one, have you heard of the four sacred medicines?” Jonna asked.

  
Stiles shook his head.

  
“They are common amongst tribes such as my own, though depending on where you go depends on what each one represents.” He said, the held up the jar he’d opened.

  
“Tobacco, the eastern doorway. The first to be given, it’ll open communications between us and the spirit world. An offering of tobacco is given when requesting something from an elder or anyone for that matter. It is also left when taking something from the land such as plants and animals for personal use.” He continued on as he poured the contents of the jar into the bowl.

  
He placed it on the ground and then held up the next jar.

  
“Cedar, the northern or southern doorway, depending on what nation you come from. Its medicine value is the tree of life, commonly used in teas and baths. When used in a smudging ceremony, it purifies the home and cleanses the spirit. Cedar has both a female and male side for balance.” Jonna poured this one in to.

  
Then he went onto the third.

  
“Sage, the western doorway. It is used to cleanse people, places, items, and ceremonies because of its deep cleansing value. Sage is picked before its bloom for it has more medicine at this time.”  
Then he picked up the ring of woven grass and placed it into the bowl.

  
“And finally, we have Sweetgrass, the southern or northern doorway depending on your nation. It is the hair of mother earth, and it is both calming and soothing. You must always pry when picking and braiding the Sweetgrass, for the mind, body, and soul.” 

  
“This is burned all together in the early morning as a gift of gratitude to the Ancestors, Mother Earth, and the universe for all their gifts is offered from our hearts. We burn this in gratitude but to also open the door between you and him to make this transition easier. Tobacco for taking the prayers to the Creator, Sage for the cleansing, Cedar for restoring mind, body and spirit, and to the Sweetgrass, the sacred hair of Mother Earth, for the gentleness, love, and the kindness she offers.”

  
Stiles watched as he struck a match with one hand though he never saw Jonna reach into the box in the first place, and let it fall into the bowl. Slowly the plants and herbs caught fire and began to burn at a steady pace and an abnormally large amount of smoke began to fill the air between them. When the combined scents reached him, it filled his nose and made his body feel like it was burning. His vision grew a bit blurry around the edges and he felt a calmness wash over him like he’d never felt before, then everything felt clearer.

  
Stiles wondered distantly if this was how people felt when they got high or was this a special circumstance. The pulsing of the earth beneath him felt stronger, he could feel it in his core like when you stand to close to a loudspeaker at a club and you can literally feel the beat vibrating through your entire body.

  
The wolf stopped breathing, his eyes rolling back in his head, and all sound around them ceased, it was so abrupt that it had Stiles’ ears ringing and body trembling.

  
A wisp of smoke curled from its slack jaw.

  
Stiles watched as the smoke accumulated between him and Jonna, combining with the smoke already in the air. It grew till the spitting image of the dead wolf laying in Jonna’s lap, though it looked bigger now, than it had in its physical form. The wolf stared at him, ducking his head low as it studied him. Part of Stiles’ mind wondered if the thing was going to pull a Supernatural and try to force itself inside him like the demons did on the show, another part was scared shitless, and another felt an ache of longing that was growing with each passing second.

  
The wolf seemed to consider Stiles for a moment before leaned back on its hunches, then it lunged for the teen, Stiles jerked back on reflex just as he felt the wolf collide with him. It felt like he’d just taken a heavy blow on the lacrosse field and like something was trying to claw its way through him.

  
He vaguely registered his body hitting the ground, the sky above him, or even Derek calling his name.

* * *

Derek’s Instincts had gone haywire at the sight of the wolf towering over Stiles. When the thing had lunged for the teen Derek had called out to him and moved to protect his packmate, only to be stopped by the wolves around him. They darted out in front of his way, blocking his path.

  
Derek growled at them in defiance and challenged them for trying to keep him from his pack mate.

  
Another wolf growled and the wolves around him backed off, Derek wasted no time in getting to Stiles, calling out his name as he ran towards him.

  
Stiles lay a few feet from where he’d originally been sitting, and Derek slid on his knees towards him and hefted the teen up into his arms.

  
“Stiles, Stiles!” Derek called out.

  
But it was no use, Stiles eyes barley focused on him before they rolled back in his skull and his body had gone limp. It was the fact that Stiles was still breathing that kept Derek from jumping off the deep end.

  
“He will be out for some time while his body, soul, and mind adjust to their new occupant.”

Jonna said from where he sat. “Take him back to the tent, I’ll join you shortly.”

  
Jonna had hoisted the dead wolf’s body into his arms with unnatural ease and begun carrying it off into the forest, the pack following close behind. He’d left the bowl of plants and herbs to continue burning, tendrils of smoke followed and coiled around both Stiles and the body of the wolf.

  
With nothing better to do, Derek hefted Stiles up and carried him back to the camp bridal style. The smoke began to fade the farther and farther he got from the area. Once he’d made it back to the camp, he altered his path towards the tent and shouldered his way inside, Stiles’ scent lingered in the air. He dropped to his knees and laid Stiles down gently atop the animal pelts the cover the whole of the tent floor.

  
He was worried that something had gone wrong with what they’d done, or that something would go wrong eventually, there were to many questions and not enough answers. Should he have let Stiles go through with this, he had no doubts when it came to the forces of nature, it was people he worried about, more specifically humans.

  
He sat beside Stiles’ sleeping form and hoped they had made the right decision here and now, and that they wouldn’t live regret it.

  
Derek wasn’t sure how long he’d sat there watching worriedly as Stiles slept, but it couldn’t have been to long because Jonna’s voice drifted towards him from outside.

  
“Join me for moment Derek, he’ll be fine by himself for a few moments.”

  
Derek didn’t want to leave Stiles but maybe Jonna had somethings to tell him about Stiles’ new status that he should know, so he went outside.

  
Jonna was by the campfire gathering up their used dishes, once he had everything, he made his way over to Derek with a small smile.

  
“She’d like to have a few words with you.” Jonna said as he gestured behind himself then made his way over to the lake.

  
When Derek’s vision refocused on where Jonna had been standing he noticed something coming out form the thicket of the trees, it was a wolf, she stood proudly and looked like she had all the patients in the world, her fur color consisted of more than one shade, ranging from brown, to black, then grey, with small tuffs of white hair around her legs.

  
It was clear that she was alpha, and it would be extremely rude of Derek not to even give her a few minutes of his time after all she’d done for them. With one last look towards the tent Derek walked off, keeping the teens heartbeat in his ears as he did so.

  
The alpha blinked at him before turning back into the forest and disappearing back from where she’d came.

  
Derek followed her without hesitation.

* * *

_Stiles groaned aloud, he really needed to stop pulling all-nighters at some point. He groaned again when he became aware of the uneven ground that was digging into his back, this was definitely not his bed, or his bedroom floor. He opened his eyes and found the starry sky staring back at him but it wasn’t right because the sun was out two, the stars wouldn’t shine when the suns out, There was also the fact that a full moon hung in the sky as well, it was bigger than it should be-bigger than the sun, in fact._

  
_“Okay, so this is a dream?” Stiles questioned as he sat up and looked around._

  
_Beacon Hills’ forest surrounded him on every side, he wasn’t sure how he knew it was Beacon Hills, he just knew that it was._

  
_“Definitely dreaming.” Stiles mused._

  
_Stiles pushed himself up off the ground and found majority of his aches and pain were gone, well that was something he wasn’t upset about, what he wanted to know was why was he here._

  
_The last thing he remembered was that he and Derek had been sort of rescued and they were talking to this shaman like dude, then the wolf lunged at him. Stiles ducked without thinking as if he expected the wolf to lung out of nowhere and rip him to shreds._

  
_Something huffed loudly to his left and Stiles turned to find the wolf from earlier laying in the grass a few feet from him like he didn’t have a care in the world, and it probably did._   
_The wolf stared at him expectantly._

  
_Stiles pursed his lips as he stared back, not sure what the wolf expected him to do._   
_The wolf fixed him with the most deadpanned look that it could rival Derek’s. _   
_“Hey, I’m new to this. You can’t expect me to know everything.” Stiles said as he glared back at the wolf._

  
_It tilted its head then got up and made its way over to Stiles. The teen resisted the urge to back away from it._

  
_When it reached him, it continued to stare at him._

  
_Stiles’ mind brought up an image from How to Train Your Dragon where Hiccup holds his hand out to toothless hoping that the dragon wouldn’t bite it off. Stiles immediately scraps the idea; this wasn’t some cartoon. The wolf before him was smart, but it was still an animal…an animal that had chosen Stiles._

  
_Stiles thought back to everything he’d learned about actual wolves and how they accepted and welcomed new pack members, he knew some would fight in order to find their place in the pack, but this wasn’t that. They were meant to be one as Jonna had said, so that meant accepting this wolf here and now. _

  
_Stiles took a step forward and when the wolf didn’t move, he did so again till their heads were side by side, the wolf peered at him with one piercing white eye._

  
_Stiles threw caution to the wind and buried his face in the wolfs neck, the wolf huffed in his ear like he found what Stiles had chosen to do to be utterly ridicules. Stiles rolled his eyes behind closed lids then felt the wolf hook the underside of its jaw over his should in order to draw the teen in closer._

  
_Stiles wasn’t sure why, but he whimpered in relief and clung to the wolf tightly as tears filled his eyes. _

  
_The wolf, no, His wolf, rumbled softly next to him._

  
_After a good several moments had passed Stiles pulled back in order to look at the wolf and was surprised to see his eyes had changed color, they were no longer stark white but the same honeyed brown that his were._

  
_Stiles wiped his face clean with his hand. “Guess you and I are in it for the long haul, huh?”_   
_His wolf nodded in affirmation._

_“Thank you.” Stiles said with a huge grin._

  
_As stiles was running his hands through his wolf’s thick fur the dream began to fade._

* * *

Stiles woke easily, he had no problem with finding his way to consciousness.

  
When he sat up, he found he was more aware of himself than he’d ever been, along with the things around him. The fur beneath his fingers felt softer than it had before and gave him comfort he didn’t know he was missing. The scent of the stew they had eaten lingered in the air, as well as Derek’s scent.

  
Derek…His scent was strange, it didn’t smell funny, he just didn’t smell like Stiles thought he would. He smelt like mint, lemon, tea, and forest…or maybe it was pine? That didn’t make sense to Stiles, he expected Derek to smell more powerful and demanding, not so tranquil.

_Alpha._

His brain supplied, though it sounded more like growling than an actual word. He knew that it was his wolf speaking to him in some way, but it still shocked him a bit. Now that he had a second to think, it only made sense that his wolf would take up residence in the part of his brain that was his subconscious, or more accurately the primal section of his brain, giving it the voice and strength to communicate what it could to the conscious part of his brain.   
Stiles knew from experience that the subconscious could overpower the conscious when push came to shove, he knew he could very well lose control like Scott had those first few couple of full moons.

  
A small growl escaped Stiles’ lips at the thought of Scott and he immediately clamped his hands over his mouth in surprise. Seems his wolf agreed in their dislike of Scott at the moment…Stiles wondered what else he was capable of.

  
He stood and found that he didn’t feel that much different, more aware but not different like he expected. Jonna did say that he would still technically be human, so he hadn’t been holding out for too much.

  
The chirping and trilling of nighttime animals filled his ears and it was way louder then it had been before, Stiles clamped his hands over his ears as it grew and thought that maybe he’d spoken to soon.

  
Control was all about focus, Stiles knew that he needed an anchor to help him keep control. He’d helped Scott find one easy-peasy, so it shouldn’t be to difficult for him. Getting home to his dad had always been his main agenda, so his dad had been his first try. For a moment thinking about his dad, everything about him that he loved had helped and the sounds had lessoned to something manageable, but the second he’d let his guard down the sounds screeched back to life and he crouched down with his hands over his ears. It had been a long shot to think that his dad would work, an anchor needed to be constant and never wavering, his relationship with his dad had been on rocky shores since Stiles had been sucked into the supernatural world. He was also to far away for Stiles to properly latch onto. He needed something to latch onto right now, something temporary.

  
Scott had told him what Derek had said about control, that what worked for betas in the beginning was pain, pain triggered fear and it either brought everything full stop, made you run like a bat out of hell, or it made you stand and fight.

  
Stiles was seconds away from digging his nails into the flesh of his forearm when something pulsed, his head tilted as he tried to hear it better. There it was again steady and strong, at first Stiles though it was the ground again, he grown accustomed to hearing the heartbeat of the forest that that’s what he’d thought he was hearing. But it was growing closer and…it was outside, not coming up from the ground.

  
“Derek…” He breathed out as he scrambled to his feet.

  
He was so eager to see his alpha that he took off, and promptly hit the ground face first just as he crossed the threshold.

  
Someone snorted. “Glad to see that hasn’t changed.”

  
Stiles puled himself up on all fours and looked up to see Derek standing a few feet away. Happiness filled him, but then the teen frowned in confusion, yeah, he was happy to see Derek, but he shouldn’t be this happy. It was his wolf; he could practically see it thumping his tail against the ground happily and he could feel him urging Stiles forward.

  
“Stiles?” Derek questioned.

  
Stiles had been so distracted by his wolf that he hadn’t noticed Derek move closer, now his alpha was crouched down in front of him, frowning in concern, his scent taking on a sour tone.

  
“I’m okay, just trying to get use to the extra presence in my head.” Stiles said.

  
Derek considered the teen for a moment, he watched as Stiles began to survey the area around him. The way he reacted was akin to a puppy getting to go outside for the first time, everything was new, and strange, and noisy. Most of these things Derek had gotten use to because he had grown into them, the sounds and colors of his world were all background noise to him, but that didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate it when he got the chance.

  
“Does everything always look like this for you?” Stiles asked as his eyes settled on the setting sun.

  
“For the most part, yeah.” Derek answered, it was surreal to think that Stiles was seeing and hearing the world the way he and any other born wolf would experience it. His betas hadn’t been so lucky, maybe it was because they were bitten, the wolf that awakened inside them still to human to see things other than how the human side had been taught too. The wolf that resided inside Stiles had already been fully grown and had experienced much in his life. He’d learned that much from the alpha, she had communicated to him about the wolf that had gave his life for Stiles, she had told him that he had been her beta, the next in line to lead after her. She hadn’t been upset at the path her beta had chosen for himself, but she was sad to see him leave. She had asked Derek to care for her former packmate as she would her own, as she had for years. Derek didn’t hesitate to tell her that he would, he had also voiced his fears to her knowing that she would listen to him without judgment or prejudice. She had been a well of information and Derek had taken it all in, hoping that the advice she’d given him would help make him a better alpha as they moved forward.

  
“What happened to you, did you go on a soul-searching journey too?” Stiles questioned, his eyes were now on him, darting across Derek’s form rapidly; studying him.

  
Derek huffed and rolled his eyes. “Something like that.”

  
Stiles opened his mouth to ask more questions, but Derek beat him to it. The alpha raised his hand to the teens neck and gripped it gently but firmly.

  
Stiles’ eyes widened as his body trembled from Derek’s touch, something fell into place between them and Stiles realized this is what he’d been waiting for Derek to do, to be accept fully into his pack. He knew he was pack, but things had shifted with this change, his wolf need confirmation that they were still Derek’s that he still wanted him. A high-pitched whine escaped him, and he would deny it to anyone that he ever made that noise because in the next second, he was face planting into Derek’s chest. Rumbling happily at being close to his alpha, being able to hear his heart fully and smell his scent.

  
Derek’s chuckle reached his ears as the alpha ran his hand through the teen’s hair, it was longer now then it had been when they first got here, not long enough to grab but it was getting there.

  
Stiles made a sound that Derek knew meant he was embarrassed at letting his instincts get the better of him, though he made no move to pull away from Derek. The alpha knew part of him wanted it to, it would still take time for Stiles to get use to everything, but he knew the teen was a quick study and adapted to change easily.

  
Derek pulled back but kept his hand on Stiles neck. “Have you found your anchor?”

  
Stiles shook his head. “I tried using my dad, but it didn’t work.”

  
“That’s alright, it’ll take time. You can rely on me for the time being till we find you one.”

Derek said as he squeezed the back of Stiles neck.

  
Stiles nodded as he thought back to how Derek had dealt with Isaac back at the police station. If it was choice between doing things on his own or having someone above him, in order to keep him in check so he didn’t kill anyone-namely his dad-then he was fine with Derek going all alpha on him.

  
“Ah, good you’re awake. The soul seems to be settling in well with yours.” Jonna said.  
Both wolves looked up at the man, and Derek questioned how the man was able to just appear out of thin air, he only ever noticed the man had shown up when he spoke, it was slightly disconcerting.

  
“Come, I’ve prepared dinner and there are more things we need to discuss.” Jonna said with a smile.

  
Derek and Stiles shared a look before getting up and heading to follow the man. When they arrived at the campfire Stiles noticed more bags than he’d seen earlier were strewn about the place.

  
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Stiles started. “why haven’t any of the hunters found us?”

  
“A good question.” Jonna said as he knelt by the fire surveying what was cooking over it, chunks of meant along with other pieces of vegetables sat frying in a pan on the same grill, it was enough to fill at least five people, Stiles wasn’t going to ask what was in it, because in all honesty he didn’t care. “The hunters never travel this far north; this is wolf territory and for all their boasting about hunting wolves they never venture this far or harm any of the wolves here.”

  
“Well there’s a first time for everything.” Stiles said as he sat by the fire, relishing the warmth it gave as opposed to the chill that began to settle in with the sun setting. “They may change their minds after last night.”

  
“They might or they might not, who’s to say what they will choose.” Jonna said as he got up and walked over to the bag that had held the bowls and utensils, this time he pulled out a few wooden plates and forks. The scent of the food that was cooking had Stiles practically drooling, the stew from earlier had been good but it had lacked the amount of seasoning this meal had, Stiles figured the Jonna had more time to properly prepare this one then he’d had the other.

  
“So, how are you feeling?” 

  
It took a moment to realize that Jonna was talking to him.

  
“I feel good, better. Everything is so much clearer and different.” Stiles said as he surveyed his hands, like he expected them to change in some way.

  
“Good, you’re adapting well,” Jonna said with a broad smile.

  
He pulled out the same metal spoon from before and began stirring the contents of the pan. “The ability to be at one with nature and the animals around us is a true gift to us. It is believed that those like you Derek were born from the ritual I had preformed earlier. Who’s to say if it’s true or not, and who’s to say what came first? was the soul of a man put into the body of a wolf, or the soul of the wolf put into that of a man?” Jonna gestured to Stiles. “No one really knows, it is an old practice and parts of it lost. At one point, if it was needed, what was given could be taken away. But I don’t think we’ll ever know the truth, and we won’t know till we begin our next life after this one ends.”

  
Jonna began passing out plates heavy with food as he continued talking. “What I know for sure, is that the same things that affect werewolves will not affect you the same, Stiles. As a way with dealing with the sudden change to man, when we first came to be, nature found a way with dealing with us. We were hunted by animals who survived on meat, plants grew poisonous and nature became unforgiving at times. With time things changed and man adapted, though they did not want to lose touch with the land around them, they wanted to grow closer to it. The ritual was created after a wolf had indirectly saved a hunter’s life from a bear and in turn the hunter fended off the beast when the wolf had been injured. The hunter tried to save the wolf but saw that it was a futile effort, he prayed for forgiveness and for the wolf before putting it out of its misery, it was either by the act of the gods or the will of the wolf that allowed it to bond with the hunter and the first Wolf Soul was created.”

  
“Tribes began bonding with various animals that were sacred to them, and over time as the generations from that man grew, and an extra precaution was developed to deal with this change, nature adapted as well. Plants that were poisonous to man became deadly to these creatures, certain trees prevented them from passing any further, and some who feared the powers these people attained began to fear and hunt them. We wanted to grow closer with the land and nature and we accomplished it but in return nature had changed in order to keep the balance.”

  
Jonna was looking down at his plate when he finished his story, he looked sad, like the story meant a great deal for him, like it was personal.

  
“You said that the things that affect us wouldn’t affect Stiles the same, what did you mean by that?” Derek asked.

  
Jonna looked up from his plate at Derek then answered. “Stiles is now a first-generation wolf, the first like the hunter from long ago. It took decades upon decades for nature to change and adapt to those with the animal soul, they could not go unchecked and unchallenged, they could not be higher than others or lord over others with the gifts they’d been given, because not all who had been given the gifts had used them for good things. Though you’ve been running with wolves for so long I could be wrong and the things that affect werewolves could hold true for you too, it is better to be safe than sorry.”

  
“Even if what you said was true, I don’t plan on testing out that theory, I don’t want to get shot just to see if you’re right or wrong.” Stiles said as he shoved more food into his mouth.  
“So, what will he be capable of?” Derek asked.

  
“In the beginning the gifts varied from person to person. Though I don’t think that’d be the case with you, from what I gathered you were more wolf then those you know who were bitten. And speaking of bitten, the bite of an alpha such as Derek will not work on you.”  
“Will it kill me?” Stiles asked, because that had been a fear of his.

  
“No, you will be immune, much like the friend of yours who screams death.” Jonna said with a soft smile. “Why would you change when you’re already something else to begin with?”

  
Huh, Stiles hadn’t considered that with Lydia, he always though she was immune to just about anything. But from what it Jonna said, it meant that someone couldn’t be two things at once, it was either one or the other. He wondered if the same held true for born creatures…well technically Lydia was a born creature and so was Derek, so he already had his answer  
“So, what do we do from here, we have to get home.” Stiles said.

  
“And I wish I could help you with that, but I am more of a nomad in the forest, I’ve no means of transportation that could help you get home. I came to offer my assistance in making sure you stayed alive, in making sure you had a better fighting chance. The forest wants these men who crave violence and bloodshed gone for good, however you chose to do that is up to you. Which reminds me these are for you.”

  
Jonna placed his plate on the ground and went over to one of the bags he had and began rummaging through it, it looked like a huge duffle.

  
“Hand crafted, they should last you longer then what you’re wearing now, I figured whoever I found out here would need some new clothes. Oh!” He said the last part like he’d just remembered something then took off towards another bag.

  
Stiles began surveying the garment he’d been given; it was reddish brown in shade and smelt faintly of deer, again he wasn’t sure how he knew but he suspected his wolf had a catalog of what certain animals and things smelled like and was just throwing the information out there for him. Jonna had given him a leather jacker made of deer skin. Stiles ran his hand along the inside and felt soft thick fur beneath his hand.

  
He looked over at Derek who held one up that was similar to his own but darker, Stiles was pretty sure it was black, and it smelt like boar. The teen snorted at the sight of it, it looked almost identical to the one Derek had worn back in Beacon Hills, he was about to comment on it when Jonna showed up again. He dropped a bag down between them and whatever was inside clattered noisily when it hit the ground, he handed Derek an actual store-bought t-shirt and pants before crouching over the bag.

  
Derek slipped the dark grey shirt on while Stiles watched Jonna pull out various things from the bad. It was more clothes, another canteen, a zippo lighter, a straight razor along a small bottle of shaving cream?

  
“You can use this in the morning,” Jonna gestured to the straight razor. “I don’t have any shoes to give you, but I think the terrain will not pose a problem to you any longer.”

  
“You shouldn’t give all this to us, how will we be able to thank you?” Stiles asked.

  
Jonna rested his elbows on his knees. “You can thank me by surviving and making it home to where you belong. Taking care of those hunters would be welcome too. So, tonight you will rest, and, in the morning, you will continue on, I have hope and faith that you will make it home. Danger is coming to your home, and I fear that if you linger much longer the family you wish to rebuild will be lost.”

  
“Then we should go now!” Stiles said as he tried to scramble to his feet.

  
A hand on his shoulder stopped him, it was Jonna. “I said it was coming, have faith in your pack that they can handle it till you get there, one night of proper rest will do you good, you still have a ways to go till you get home.”

  
Stiles wanted to protest, the longer they waited the closer they could be to losing someone. But Jonna hadn’t lied to them so far, so he swallowed his words and sat back down, occupying his mind with plans as he ran his hands through the fur of the jacket he’d been given.

  
“Stiles,” Derek called out, making the teen look up. “they’ll be okay.”

  
“I really hope so,” Stiles said, as he chewed his bottom lip anxiously.

  
“Take the tent, I will sleep little tonight, there is much I have to prepare before we go our separate ways tomorrow.” Jonna said, he’d begun gathering up their empty plates as he spoke.

  
Stiles didn’t feel right taking the man’s tent for the night, but he was tired. According to Derek, he’d slept the day away even though the dream felt like it had transpired in about ten minutes, he still felt far from rested. Stiles figured it had something to do with his dream, he may have been asleep, but he hadn’t actually slept.

  
After he shoved everything back into their newly acquired bag, Derek had held out his hand to him, and he took it gratefully.

  
Derek lead them to the tent and once they were inside Stiles wasted no time in stretching out over the fur blankets and promptly knocking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like making this chapter, did my own personal wiki dive for the part with the herbs, found it by accident
> 
> I hope you're all doing well and staying safe, and I'll see you next week!
> 
> Love you!


	22. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! Since I can't seem to keep my head on straight, what with the quarantine and my job distorting my days and time, I'll now be posting at least once a week, no set day because I can't seem to remember when it's the day of.
> 
> I hope you all are doing well during this time and doing your best to stay safe out there!

“Looks like plans have changed.” Peter said, he felt bone tired, but he’d never let on how he really felt to those around him, things were still too new...still too fragile.

  
“What, why?” Noah questioned as he looked over to where Peter was standing.

  
“I know you want to get you son back, and I want my nephew home. But, searching for the both of them will have to be put on the back burner for now.” Peter said in all seriousness.

  
“But we can’t, we have to get my boy home.” Noah argued.

  
“And we will, just not right now. I know for a fact that the visit we had today wasn’t just that, and we’ve no conformation that Marek has really left. So, Stiles and Derek will have to wait. From now on no one goes anywhere alone, and training is coming to an immediate stop.”

  
“But then what are we supposed to do?” Isaac asked.

  
“Keep your heads down and carry on with your day to day lives, Marek has seen almost all of you so there will be no way any of you can fool him now, we don’t know what he wants or what he’s really here for. Whatever he wants we won’t make it easy for him, be on your guard and remember what I taught you, none of you have ever gone up against an alpha before and I need to stress how dangerous he is.” Peter said.

  
“But some of us have gone up against you more than once, and we’re okay.” Scott interjected.

  
Peter smiled at Scott; it was all teeth. “No, you didn’t. I could’ve killed that night in the forest, or any other night I called you out. I was just toying with you that night at the school remember, I could’ve easily killed you regardless of the doors, walls, or those feeble plans you came up with. But I chose not to, I let you think you had the upper hand the whole time.”

  
Peter stepped closer till he was in Scotts face, making the kid sweat. “So, trust me when I say that I could’ve killed you easily and that’s that I was out of my mind then. What do you think a fully realized alpha is capable of, one that has had their power for years? Do you think he would hesitate if you defied him, do you think he’d show mercy to an unruly beta refusing to submit? All this time you blamed my nephew for all your problems, when you should’ve accepted you new life no matter how you got it, you think I was bad? You think Derek was? Just wait, and you’ll see what a real alpha is capable of.”

  
At those last words Peter backed away from Scott, turned and left out the front door.

* * *

Stiles was crouched down next to the lake shore, shirtless. He was busy scooping water into his hands and pouring it over his head. He’d woken up before Derek and had been slightly mortified that he had been sprawled across his alphas back diagonally. Derek hadn’t seemed to mind it, seeing as he was dead to the world, though Stiles didn’t stick around long enough to find out.

  
Something thumped down beside him, and Stiles rubbed the water from his eyes and found Derek, looking adorably sleep mussed. Derek sat down next to him without a word and began looking through the bag for something in particular. A few seconds later he pulled out the straight razor and shaving cream.

  
“Didn’t think you were ever going to shave you face ever again.” Stiles said with a teasing smile.

  
Derek looked up at him, his eye lids heavy. “Not for me.”

  
Stiles frowned. “Then who’s it for?”

  
“You.”

  
“Me?”

  
Silently Derek reached out to Stiles then racked his blunt human nails over the side of his face, Stiles felt and heard the sound of Derek’s nails against the stubble he didn’t even know he had. When Derek’s hand fell away, Stiles’ own reached up as he patted the lower half of his face, how had he not realized. Well it was hard to keep track of things like that when you were running for you life, he did recall a few times in the past few days where his face had been itching him, it was a pretty obvious indication that fresh stubble was trying to break through his skin, but he’d paid no mind to it.

  
Derek shifted till he was up on his knees then placed a hand on Stiles’ shoulder and forced him back till he was sitting.

  
“You’re not even going to ask if I want my face shaved?”

  
“No, you’ve been absentmindedly scratching your face often enough for me to know that you prefer to be clean shaven. That or you’re just not use to having facial hair.”

  
Stiles sighed dramatically as he let Derek wet his face and cover it in the foamy substance. Stiles nose wrinkled at the smell, he thanked Jonna silently that it wasn’t scented but it smelt like chemicals.  
“You’ll get use to it.” Derek said as he unfolded the blade and got to clearing the teens face of unwanted hair.

  
Stiles let Derek tilt his head this way and that, consciously ignoring his wolf and as it rumbled happily about being groomed by their alpha.

  
“We should do you next.” Stiles said when Derek stopped to clean the blade off in the water.

  
“Stiles.” Derek said in exasperation.

  
“What? You’re looking kind of burly there, mountain man.” Stiles said with a light chuckle.

  
Derek rolled his eyes. “Shut before I cut you.”

  
“If you did, you’d have to hear my complain about it the rest of the day.” Stiles countered.

  
Derek rolled is eyes again before forcefully grabbing the teen by the chin and angling it upward. A disgruntled noise came out of the teens mouth, but he didn’t dare say anything. The blade of the razor was gliding smoothly down his throat as Derek continued on with his task, effectively shutting him up and carefully reminding him of his place.

  
When Derek was finished, he cleaned off the blade and stored it back in their bag along with anything else he’d used.

  
Stiles ran his hand across his face thoughtfully and gave his thanks before standing up, he was about to put on his shirt when Derek stopped him.

  
“You could probably take that off.” He gestured to the bandages around his arm.

  
“You think?” Stiles wasn’t sure if super healing was in the cards for him, but then again, it didn’t hurt to check.

  
Derek took it upon himself to peel off the bandage, the wound had healed completely. All that was left behind was a thin white line, it was the only thing left to indicate he’d had a wound at all.

  
“So partial healing?” Stiles questioned.

  
“Maybe, the wound was already healing like normal, and it is possible for us to get scars. It’d either take a really bad wound, or if your emotions are strong enough, they can keep you from healing properly or if at all.” Derek said as he examined the area.

  
“Huh.” Stiles said as he pulled his shirt down over his head.

  
Looking around Stiles had noticed that Jonna had taken apart the area he used for their meals, the only thing left was a smear of ash and soot. The man himself was now taking down the tent he’d let them use since he’d found them.

  
Stiles left Derek to wash up and joined Jonna.

  
Stiles somewhat amazed as he watched the man pack everything together into bags then place those bags on a makeshift rack with a base part that jutted outward, he’d most likely had made it himself. It had straps on the opposite side like that of a backpack. It was pretty cool to watch, Stiles supposed that living as a nomad all his life had trained him to compartmentalize the things he carried with him.

  
“I never got to ask, but why didn’t you find us sooner if you knew the hunters come here regularly.” Stiles asked.

  
“They do come here, year after year, but it’s never quite in the same area. The forest alerted me when they came, and again when you arrived. So, I began making my way to you. The two of you traveled father than those before you, and you held your own against those who persecuted you. When it seemed like we would never catch up, the forest sent the wolf to track you down, a lone wolf moves faster than the pack. When he found you, all that was left to do reach you and lend a hand if need be.” Jonna explained as he finished packing up his things.

  
“Just saying thank you, doesn’t quite cut it.” Stiles said.

  
Jonna crouched down and slipped his arms through the straps, he hoisted the thing up with ease. Stiles had to wonder if the man had spoken the truth about him being human, what he was carrying looked far too heavy for one man to carry, but he did so without a problem.

  
Derek joined him at his side, his hair dripping wet and the bag slung over his shoulder.

  
“I hope we meet again, under better circumstances. If not in this life, then maybe the next.” Jonna said with a broad smile.

  
“thank you, Jonna. I wish we could meet more humans like you.” Derek said with a ghost of a smile.

  
“Why would you wish it, when you already have?” Jonna questioned, making the wolf frown.

  
Jonna simply smiled before turning and walking away, waving back as he disappeared into the forest.

  
After a moment Stiles spoke. “You know, sometimes he reminds me to much of Deaton.”

  
Derek snorted. “Come on, let’s see if you can keep up.”

  
Stiles raised an eyebrow at the alpha. “Are you trying to challenge me?”

  
“I want to know what you’re capable of.” Derek said, making the teen smile.

  
“Let’s go then, we’re burning daylight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cheese sticks! I'm just now realizing how close to the end we are! Stars, it's been a wild ride, I am working on the next story as well, though it'll be a while before I begin posting it.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you guys sometime next week!
> 
> Stay safe, Love you!


	23. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hope you're all doing well! I'm pretty tired today, but o had time to post, so I thought why not?

Stiles felt exhilarated; running had taken on a whole new meaning now.

  
He couldn’t help but laugh as he flew through the forest faster than he ever though he could. Derek ran at his side and was he actually smiling. Stiles felt it inside, there was something about running with someone else by your side, it was fun, exciting, and challenging-well it was Derek who kept pushing, always pulling ahead just to see if Stiles could catch up to him. Stiles knew that if Derek wanted to, he could leave Stiles in his dust.

  
For all it’s fun it was still a challenge, Stiles could enjoy himself as he ran but his klutzy nature wouldn’t be cured over night, he still had to pay attention. He’d stumbled over roots and rocks more then once, but he was keen on not wiping out and breaking a few bones on his first real run, so he managed to stay upright and push forward.

  
When Derek began to slow, Stiles mirrored him. They had been running for quite some time and unlike Derek, Stiles was winded. His body still needed to build up its strength and endurance, he could keep up with Derek’s lupin speed, that didn’t mean he was on the same level as a werewolf, but maybe in time, he could be.

  
“Everything okay?” Stiles asked in between breaths.

  
Derek nodded, then asked. “Can you smell that?”

  
Stiles was about to ask what Derek meant but decided against it.

  
He took a deep breath, not in an obnoxious and loud manner, but slowly and deeply. There was something drifting faintly in the air, it smelt spicy, not in the way hot peppers did, no, it smelt sharp, harsh, and bitter? It was followed by the scent of gunpowder, a scent he didn’t know he knew, it brought memories of his dad to the surface and made his chest ache with longing.

  
He swallowed back his emotions before speaking.

  
“I smell gunpowder and something else I can’t place, what Is it?” Stiles asked.

  
“You have a good nose, it’s wolfsbane. It’s not a scent you can really pick up back home, hunters tend to carry the bullets but the casing they use dampens the smell. The more hunters work with it the more the smell of the actual flower clings to them, it’s easier to tell when we’re out here because the air is clean. Remember the scent, even when we’re back home, if you catch the slightest whiff of it you let me know.” Derek said.

  
“Okay,” Stiles said with a nod.

  
Derek returned the gesture, then they resumed their run.

* * *

Later on, that night they made camp, they didn’t bother with starting a fire or finding shelter, they didn’t need it. Derek scented no on coming storms, and Stiles barley felt the chill of the night as he had before, even so he still leaned into Derek’s side as they rested against a tree that night.

  
Sleep didn’t come right away, Stiles wanted to enjoy the stars some more, Derek was doing the same. Stiles had come to like Jonna for what he’d done and what’d he’d given them-well him in particular, but he felt way better and more at ease with it being just him and Derek again, Stiles considered Jonna a friend, but he wasn’t pack. He wondered idly if Derek felt the same way about the man, maybe he did. Derek had barely spoken to the man in Stiles’ presence, save for when they said their goodbyes, so Stiles was pretty sure he felt the same way as well, at least to some degree.

  
“You never told me your plan Stiles.” Derek said.

  
“My plan?” Stiles questioned.

  
“Rats in a maze.” Derek supplied.

  
Stiles smiled and blew air out between his lips as he ran one of his hands through his hair, then began to explain his plan about what he had planned for the hunters.

  
Derek was reluctant to work on the first part because it meant they would have to split up and he didn’t want to do that again. But he saw Stiles’ reasoning and he trusted him to know what he was doing in order to accomplish their goal.

  
When morning came, they set their plan into motion.

  
Before they parted Derek pulled Stiles into his arms, the teen rested his chin atop Derek’s shoulder.

  
“Don’t be an idiot.” Derek said.

  
“When am I ever an idiot?” Stiles countered with a small laugh.

  
Derek pulled back and placed one hand on the back of Stiles neck, Stiles lent into his alphas grip.

  
“I’m serious,” He said, his eyes burning red. “You better come back to me.”

  
“I will, I told you that you couldn’t get rid of me even if you tried.” Stiles said with a genuine smile.

  
Derek wasn’t good with goodbyes, he never had been, so he didn’t say goodbye, instead he said. “Be careful.”

  
“You too,” Stiles said.

  
They parted ways.

* * *

Stiles considered himself to be rather good at trickery, being mischievous was his forte after all. Getting the hunters to chase him was simple, getting them mad enough to keep on his tail was easy. He was good at getting under people’s skin, just ask his chemistry teacher.

  
He was waiting, crouched low between a cluster of trees. He could hear them, they were trained to be careful, cautious and precise. But they were still so loud, the ground shifted under their feet, their breath came out in short puff, and their heart beats were the loudest thing of all. Stiles counted five in total, not nearly as much as he hoped, but he could work with that.

  
They were coming closer.

  
The Scent of wolfsbane and gunpowder grew stronger with each passing minute, making his nostrils burn.

  
When they were close enough Stiles stood up from his ‘hiding spot’ and everyone froze. Stiles twisted his face into an expression of fear then took off.

  
He heard the screech of their walkie as he ran, only catching the tail end of what one of them had said.

  
“…Heading east!”

  
Stiles grinned to himself as he ran, he could hear the hunters behind him. He found it strange that he now he had to hold himself back when his wolf was urging him to leave them behind. But he had a plan to keep, so he pretended to slip on the soft dirt-which wasn’t that hard-and scrambled to change directions, he really hoped this was the right way.

  
“…Changed direction…now heading south.”

  
Stiles mentally high-fived himself as he ran, scouring the trees for something in particular. When he found it, he altered his course accordingly, movement caught his eye and he could see another group making their way towards him, there were about three.

  
He grinned.

  
Perfect.

  
At this rate they would converge on him at the same time.

  
When he got closer to his destination, he ‘tripped’ and went flying, rolling roughly to a stop. Maybe he should’ve rethought this part of his plan because things were starting to hurt again.

  
The hunters caught up with him, and Stiles hastily propped himself up on his elbows and began crawling backwards in an attempt to get away from them.

  
“Don’t move,” one of the hunters said as he leveled a semi-automatic at Stiles’ head.

  
Stiles froze, widening his eyes in mock fear. “No please, don’t.”

  
“Not going to happen kid, we got a job to take care of and you’re the bait, grab him.” The man said.

  
All at once they began to move forward, never taking their eyes of off him for one second while Stiles tried to plead with them to let him go.

  
Something snapped, and Stiles grinned as he watched one of their traps spring. Catching every single one of them in it. Screams and curses rang out as a mess of bodies and limbs were all smushed together in visibly uncomfortable ways. 

  
Stiles got up and walked around the squirming mass above him, he’d never been to keen on nets, but he saw the appeal. “Figured, this long into the game, it’d be hard to remember where all your traps were. For those who avoided getting caught in them, it’s kind of hard to forget, hope you’ve reset the ones we triggered a while back.”

  
With all those bodies pressed together it would take forever for them to work out how to get out of it without injuring themselves or each other.

  
There walkies screeched to life, whoever was on the other side was asking for updates on their progress with apprehending the human. Stiles spied one of the devices hanging from one of their belts, in one swift movement Stiles jumped up and snagged the device without hitch, paying little attention to the fact that he just cleared a seven-foot jump like he was bouncing on a trampoline.

  
“Unit seven, I need an update now!” The voice demanded.

  
Stiles pressed the button that allowed him to respond.

  
“Uh, yeah hi, sorry they’re a little tied up at the moment.”

  
“Who the hell is this?!” The man demanded.

  
“Oh, just a lost human trying to get home, think you could give me directions? I’m a little turned around.” Stiles looked around in almost every direction, with a mock look of confusion on his face.

  
All he got in return was silence, he waited a few seconds before pressing the button again. “Hello, you still there, I didn’t lose you, did I?”

  
The device screeched, then a different voice came through. “You have been the worst pain in my ass, since I brought you here.”

  
“President Snow, it’s you! Long time, no see, how’ve you been?” Stiles asked cheerfully.

  
“Cut the shit, kid what do you want?” The man asked.

  
“Well, I already have everything I need at the moment, but thanks for asking.” Stiles replied.

  
“You kidnapped some of my men, and killed others, you’re telling me that you don’t want anything?” President snow questioned.

  
“Uhh, you’re wrong about two thing, you kidnapped me and my alpha. And your men are fine, they’re just hanging out here,” Stiles said as he searched the ground for a decent sized stick, which he used to poke at one of the bodies above him as he held out the walkie. One of them flinched and yelped, making the other wriggle and call out their displeasure.

  
“See, perfectly fine, and for the record I never killed anyone. So, here’s what you can do, you can either come cut your men down because I’m pretty sure you know where their general location is, and by then me and my alpha will be long gone, or you can try to stop us, because I’m seriously considering hotwiring one of your guy’s cars. It’s up to you.” Stiles said.

  
He didn’t wait for a response, just switched the device of completely and tossed it to the ground along with the stick.

  
“Well I would say it’s been nice knowing you, but it wasn’t. Try not to accidentally stab each other to much trying to get free.” Stiles said joyfully before taking off, leaving a net full of angry hunters behind.  
Elsewhere Derek was preparing for the second half of the plan, having heard Stiles through one of the walkie-talkies he’d ganked from a group of hunters he’d knocked unconscious about ten minutes earlier. Now that Stiles had made his intentions known, Derek didn’t have a lot of time left to prepare.

  
Stiles was biding his time, he had decided to watch things from up above in the trees, it was the nicest seat after all. It had taken quite a while to redo one of the hunter’s traps, but Stiles like to think he’d done a good job. He had found one of the traps they had run into on their first day, the sink hole to be exact. And after some careful examination, preparation, and redecoration, Stiles’ new trap was set. He didn’t want to kill anyone, but he was okay with injuring, along with a side of maiming. So, he’d taken out the wolfsbane coated stakes from the bottom and discarded them, if he’d have still been human it would’ve probably taken him hours maybe even days to complete his new trap. But with his new gifts it had only taken him and hour or so.

  
He kept an ear out for Derek or any hunters that might’ve stumbled upon him and his plan, but he’d been lucky-well he didn’t consider it luck really.

  
By calling out the hunters and giving them a heads up about what he was planning, it would force them to regroup and strategize. Stiles had never planned on taking one of their cars for a joyride, he’d just said that, so they’d follow his breadcrumbs. This trap they had laid, led straight back to the preserve where this had all started. And if it didn’t work then hopefully it would take out some of them, the less him and Derek had to deal with, the better.

  
The sound of multiple heart beats filled his ears, Stiles had known that not all of them would make their way this way, that’d be pretty stupid of them. He turned his head to look as they approached, at least fifteen in total were approaching. All of them had their guards, scanning the area for any potential threats, keeping themselves tightly knit together, still they failed to look up. 

  
Like a cat looking down from its high perch, Stiles watched them advance. They seemed to be even way more cautious then before and why wouldn’t they be? Stiles and Derek had eluded them time and time again, sure it had been by the skin of their teeth, but they still came out on top…more or less.

  
The noticed the trap, Stiles hadn’t been holding out for too much with this one. All of them were on high alert now, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use it to his advantage.

  
Stiles waited till they all had made their way around and regrouped on the far side. He was glad that he had a knack for scaling the side of Scotts house and the tree by his bedroom window, because it made this part so much easier.

  
Stiles grabbed ahold of one of the branches above him with both hands and used it to swing forward. He released the branch and let himself free fall ten feet. He landed with a heavy thump before them, startling at least four of them.

  
“Hi.” He said cheerfully just before he roughly pressed the flat of his hands against the chest of the hunter that was closest to him. Like dominos they stumbled backwards, clutching and pulling one another as they tried to stay upright. Someone had stepped to far back and Stiles heard the telltale sigh of the ground caving in and like a train falling off the rails of a broken bridge then into a chasm below, all of them went over.

  
Well almost all of them, one was still clinging to the side, trying her best to get some kind of leverage so she wouldn’t end up like he comrades below.

  
Stiles was to much of nerd to not pass up the moment, so he walked over to where the huntress was clinging on for dear life and crouched down in front of her. Her fingers clawed at the dirt, caking her nails. Her face painted with a murderous glare, then Stiles noticed the slight discoloration of a bruise on her face and even though he hadn’t seen her face from that night, he knew it was that girl he’d fought with before, the one who’d managed to split his cheek open and leave a good portion of his face and body bruised, Stiles was just thankful they had healed with each passing hour.

  
“You know you should really consider rethinking you families’ priorities.” Stiles said.

  
She reminded him to much of Allison with her long dark hair and doe like eyes, he’d seen the rabbit hole she’d fallen into with her family (I.E. her psychotic aunt, and grandfather) and a small part of him didn’t want her ending up the same. She continued to glare at him with her blue eyes, breathing harshly through clenched teeth.

  
Stiles sighed to himself before grabbing one of her hands, she immediately latched onto it and tried to grab on with the other. Stiles knew better then to give her any more leverage so he made sure she could only keep a grip on his hands.

  
“Maybe one day, you’ll thank me for this. But, then again, that’s entirely up to you.” Stiles said.

  
Her eyes widened like saucers as she realized what Stiles was about to do.

  
“Long live the king.” He quoted with a sly grin and shoved her off the ledge.

  
She gasped as she fell, and followed with an “oof,” and a series of grunts from anyone she happened to fall on.

  
Stiles peered over the edge of the hole to see a pile of hunters below, a few of them were struggling to get free of their fellow hunters whom they had been pinned under, others were standing or sitting as they nursed bruised body parts and surveyed the wall of the hole for an idea on how to get out, some were even trying to climb out. The hole they had dug was too far down for them to try and jump up to grab the ledge, and the wall had been smoothed down so there was no way to climb up. They’d have to get really creative if they wanted to get themselves out of there, and that’s if they were all willing to work together, and even if they did work together it would still take time, time they didn’t have.

  
“I’m not going to leave you here to die, when I get the chance, I’ll send someone to get ya.” Stiles said with a wave as he left, a volley of shouts and curses rang out behind him.

  
Now it was time to see if Derek had been successful with his part of the plan.

  
Stiles had arrived at his destination just in time, coming to a stop next to Derek just as he finished gathering what was needed, sadly the hunters had shown up at around the same time, and all hell was about to break loose.

  
Thirteen hunters, including the big man himself had arrived at the destination Stiles had given. About ten vehicles of various makes, models, and sizes were here in the clearing, including the van that had brought them here in the first place.

  
“Seems like you two, are shit out of luck.” President snow said with a grin, and Stiles would be happy for the rest of his life if he never saw that man smile again. Because A) it was creepy, and B) he was pretty sure the man smoked way too much, because his teeth were a rotten shade of yellow.

  
“Maybe,” Stiles said, somehow managing to keep his composure. “But I never believed much in luck.”

  
With one signal from the man, the rest of the hunters opened fire.

  
Stiles and Derek scattered, abandoning the second half of Stiles’ plan, they rounded behind the van, taking cover from the onset of bullets.

  
Stiles crouched forward on his hunches, he could feel his wolf twisting and thrashing beneath the surface, heckles raised and teeth barred. Tension built in his legs and arms, he wanted to tear these men apart for what they’ve done, for turning his peaceful home into a place filled with blood, pain, anguish, and fear.

  
“Stiles.”

  
Wild honey brown eyes met tempered kaleidoscope green; the edges tinged with red making his alphas eyes look like a forest on fire.

  
“Focus, take out your frustration the way you want to, if want blood then go for blood.” Derek said.

  
The notion that he wanted blood managed to snap him out of his wolf induced haze, he wanted them to pay, but not enough to draw blood with his own hands, if it came down to it he would, without hesitation, but for now he’d do things his way.

  
Derek reached out to garb his hand. “You ready?”

  
Stiles couldn’t help the small smile pulling at his lips. “We’ve come this far.”

  
Derek nodded; his face grim as his iris’ burned alpha red.

  
Stiles returned the gesture and with that they both turned from each other and ran out into open danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To think, this will be the first long term story I've completed, and it exciting but also jarring at the same time. We're getting so close to the end of this story but not the series!
> 
> I liked writing this chapter it was a lot of fun, having Stiles be his usual smartass self is always entertaining! 
> 
> So, I love you guys, and hope you're doing well during this time and staying safe, I'll see you all some time soon!


	24. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Things have been a little all over the place these past what...two weeks? I got another job along with the one I already have, so getting into the swing of things has been slow going, but here I am!
> 
> I struggled so much with this chapter, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Stiles found the world moving in slow motion, his eyes could see the path of the bullets and managed to dodge them just in time. Hunters were precise and fast but not as fast as them, more then once he caught Derek moving faster than he could see, disarming and knocking out hunters left and right.

  
Stiles didn’t let the fact that he was more physically advance then the hunters go to his head, he’d seen it happen with Derek’s betas. They let the power go to their head and had nearly died from it more then once, Stiles knew that one wrong step could mean his, or Derek’s life.

  
He kept his body low and thought back to what he learned in lacrosse, he used the brunt of his shoulder as he barreled towards a small cluster of hunters and crashed into one. The hunter hit the ground hard and he heard a sickening crack, he wrestled the weapon from them and launched it another nearby hunter, hitting him in the face. He didn’t stop to see if the man was down, though he did catch the sight of an overwhelming amount of blood gushing from in-between the man’s fingers as he cupped them over his face, in a futile attempt to stem it.

  
Stiles moved on, only to come face to face with the barrel of another gun, part of him was so done with guns now. The hunter holding said gun, pulled the trigger and Stiles narrowly dodged it, it left his right ear ringing and a stinging pain radiating from his temple.

  
Everything went haywire, and he lost all thought as he lunged forward.

* * *

A high-pitched scream drew Derek’s attention, he turned to look and saw as a hunter crashed to the ground.

  
The alpha followed the direction the hunter had come from and found Stiles crouched on down on all fours. With his eyes he could see that Stiles’ nails had lengthened into claws not unlike his own-the only difference he could spot was that they were white almost pearl like, fangs jutting from his mouth, but that was where the similarities had ended. He lacked the most prominent features of a Werewolf, his eyes didn’t glow, there was no excessive muscle, skin, or hair protruding from his face. But he radiated power, Derek could feel it even though they stood about fifteen feet apart. With his ears he could hear Stiles growling, it was low and threatening and made his heckles rise.

  
Derek caught all of this in the span of seconds, he watched Stiles’ muscle flex just before he lunged. To Derek’s surprise, Stiles didn’t immediately rip them to shreds. He used his strength and speed to his advantage; a lot of hunters were sent hurdling into nearby trees or crashing into the ground. A seriously unlucky one was sent flying into the van with such force that his body left a dent in the side of the vehicle.

  
Derek’s wolf relished the sight of his newest beta holding his own, his more human half liked the fact that even though Stiles was beyond pissed he still kept himself in check. Killing was a last resort, it was a line either of them were willing to cross, but only if there was no choice, or if the person in question needed to die-cases in point, Peter, Gerard, and Kate.

  
The alpha focused back on the task at hand and dodged a spray of bullets headed his way and easily took down two hunters who thought they’d cornered him.

  
A panicked scream came from behind him and turned and found Stiles had pinned a hunter down to the ground, his left foot resting on the man’s right shin and his hands pressed to the hunter’s chest. Judging by the distance between them. Derek wondered briefly if the hunter had tried to sneak up on him, like they had a few days prior. He watched as Stiles purposely applied more pressure to the hunter’s right leg with his bare foot.

  
Something snapped and the hunter cried out in pain, sitting up and clutching his leg in terrified agony as soon as Stiles had moved on.

  
Before he knew it, almost all the hunters were down for the count, most of them groaning or drying in pain, some were unconscious, but all of them were still alive.

  
Derek’s eyes found Stiles just as a shot rang out and the teen’s body jerked back.

  
Fear and adrenalin shot through him.

  
He ran to Stiles as the teen fell to his knees, a bullet lodged in his abdomen.

  
“So, you decided to become an abomination too, should’ve guessed you would. Should’ve killed you in the beginnin’ when I had the chance.” It was their leader who spoke.

  
Stiles groaned loudly in response as he clutched his bleeding side, then said, “Where the fuck have you been hiding, asshole?”

  
“Doesn’t really matter now, does it.” He responded.

  
Derek growled as the scent of wolfsbane filled the air, but it began to tapper off as he watched Stiles push to his feet. 

  
“Fuck this hurts.” He groaned out.

  
“Stiles.” Derek said worriedly.

  
Stiles said nothing, he looked at his alpha and conveyed his plan without saying a single word. Derek’s jaw clenched; he didn’t want to chance the poison spreading any faster, but they had to take this guy out before they dealt with it.

  
Despite the pain, Stiles grinned before ducking low and breaking out into a sprint, Derek flanking him.

  
Both Derek and Stiles converged on the hunter at the same time.

  
Stiles had managed to wrestle the gun from the hunter, but not before he let loose a crack shot beside his head. His ears were ringing worse then they had before, slightly dazed, he watched Derek throw the man to the ground.

  
“You know,” Stiles said with a huff as his focus came back. “I fucking hate hunters,” He delivered a swift kick to the man’s temple, knocking him unconscious.

  
The teen fell to his knees as he hissed though his teeth. “You guys never said getting shot hurt this much.”

  
Derek placed a hand on his shoulder as he knelt beside his beta, Stiles immediately deflated against him as he drained his pain away.

  
“Lay back.” Derek instructed.

  
Stiles didn’t protest as he did what he was told, and honestly, he felt ten times better laying down than standing up. Derek pushed up his shirt in order to examine the wound, he was bleeding and thankfully it was still red, the black lines around it had barley begun to spread.

  
“I’m going to have to dig it out.” Derek said when he spied no exit wound.

  
“Oh yeah, I’d love to have your fingers all up in me.”

  
Derek rolled his eyes, least he knew Stiles wasn’t hurt to badly since he still had the energy to joke. “This is going to hurt way more than being shot.”

  
“Yeah, yeah, just do it.” He huffed out.

  
Derek leaned forward, bracing his left forearm over the span of Stiles’ chest in order to hold him down, he kept his ears open in case more danger found them.

  
Derek’s thumb and index finger sprout claws, he didn’t hesitate to sink them into Stiles’ open flesh. Stiles’ abdomen clenched as he screamed his fingers clawing at the ground, clenching his jaw in the next second in order to stifle his screams. It was becoming exceedingly more difficult to focus on the task at hand when Stiles began to thrash beneath him, Derek just applied more pressure to the teens chest and that helped restrict some of his movements.

  
Derek growled when he felt a searing pain in his arm and looked up to find that Stiles had bit him-correction-that Stiles was biting him, he could feel the teens new canines scraping against the bone of his forearm. He swallowed back a warning growl and focused on pulling the bullet out, roaring or growling at Stiles would not help right now, he was running on pure instinct. Derek could smell the pain, fear, and panic coming off of him in waves. He wasn’t trying to challenge Derek or kill him, he was trying to stop the pain, and usually the first thought is to go after the thing that’s causing it in order to make it stop or escape. When Derek finally found the bullet and had a proper hold of it, he pulled it free and tossed it aside. It took a few minutes and some effort for Stiles to finally managed to let go of his arm. His mouth was covered in Derek’s blood and there were visible tears in his eyes, his breathing was heavy, and his body was shaking uncontrollably as tears ran down his face.

  
Derek ignored the instinct to comforting Stiles for now, in favor of getting the gun that held the antidote, though he wasn’t sure how to get the cartridge free. He was about to ask Stiles when he caught sight of the wound, for a second Derek though it was festering because black goo began to bubble from it in a way Derek had never seen before. The black lines that had crept out a few inches were receding as the wound continued to bubble then began to spill out and over Stiles’ bloodied side.

  
Derek watched in morbid fascination as all the lines vanished and the wolfsbane was literally pushed out of Stiles’ body and the bullet wound closing slowly. 

  
His body had rejecting the wolfsbane, but how?

  
“Derek, what’s…?” Stiles was about to ask as he forced himself to sit up and saw his wound closing and gross black goo running down his side, a nearly perfect white circle about the size of the bullet was all that was left behind as to any indication that the teen had even been wounded.

“What?” The teen questioned.

  
“I don’t know.”

  
“But how?”

  
“I don’t know.”

  
Stiles glared down at his belly, this was just what he needed, more questions. But who was he to complain, he asked for this and now he’d have to figure it all out, at least he wasn’t alone in that.

* * *

Later, after all the hunters had been restrained with the ridiculous amount of chains Derek had found stowed in their cars, trucks, and vans. Stiles had walked over to their leader just as the man was gaining consciousness.

  
“What are you…?” He asked as he saw more than felt Stiles reach behind the man and fish something out of the man’s back pocket, it was his wallet.

  
“Figured a man like you wouldn’t be stupide enough to leave this in his car, but confident enough to keep it on his person.” Stiles said, as he walked away from the man, said man began to struggle against the tree he was tethered to. Stiles had opted to tie the man to his very own tree, even if he couldn’t break free of chains there was no way Stiles was going to chance the man finding some way to get free.

  
Derek had just finished tying up the last of the hunters, most of them still unconscious. Then he made his way over to Stiles, he watched the teen rummage through one of the cars, until he found what he was looking for and let out a triumphant cheer.

  
“What is that?” Derek questioned.

  
“GPS tracker, knew they’d have one being out here in an area like this.” Stiles said as he pulled something from his pocket.

  
Derek frowned at him. “Where’d you get that?”

  
It was a cell phone, a really expensive one by the looks of it.

  
“One of the hunters” Stiles said as he gestured behind him vaguely.

  
“What are you going to do?”

  
“I’m going to make a call.”

  
Derek watched as he powered the phone on and wondered if they would even get signal out here and who Stiles was going to call.

  
“Five bars, sweet.” Stiles exclaimed happily.

  
He dialed a number, Derek wondered if the phone had been locked, and if it had been, how had Stiles gotten into it.

  
The phone rang three times before someone answered.

  
“Hey, you got a pen and paper near you?”

  
“Stiles?” He heard the voice question on the other end, it wasn’t a voice the alpha knew.

  
“Yeah, it’s me, listen you got a pen and paper or what?”

  
“Stiles, this better not be a game, or I’m calling your dad.”

  
Stiles’ scent soured a bit as he aggressively flipped the hunter’s wallet open.

  
“Does the name, Nelson Higgs mean anything to you.”

  
Derek heard nothing from the other end.

  
“How do you know that name?” The man finally questioned.

  
“Guess you haven’t heard. Then again why would you have, after everything.” Stiles’ scent and voice took on a bitter edge.

  
Who the hell was Stiles talking to?

  
“Stiles…”

  
“If you want your guy you can come get him at…” Stiles listed off a series of numbers that Derek didn’t care to follow he knew they were the coordinates to their exact position.

  
“But, how did you-” The man began to question.

  
“They fucked with the wrong Stilinski.” Stiles answered harshly.

  
“Stiles-”

  
The teen cut him off before he could begin.

  
“Better come get your guy, don’t know how long he’ll stay put, oh and bring a task force with you-about forty men if you can, we left a few his cronies tangled up in the forest. Better get a move on McCall, no time to waste.” Stiles said before he dropped the phone and the GPS tracker, he could hear the man on the other end calling out for Stiles on the other end.

  
“McCall?”

  
“Scott’s dad, he’s an FBI Agent.”

  
Derek’s brow furrowed. “How’d you know to call him?”

  
“He’s an asshole, but I figured he could be trusted. Let’s get a move on, I don’t want to be here when they get here, especially if these fuckers have friends in high places.” Stiles said.

  
Derek didn’t bother to question the teen, instead he pulled out their bag he’d stowed underneath one of the cars and loosened the string the kept the bag sealed. He pulled out a canteen and screwed off the cap, turned it upside down and dumped a majority of its contents on his bloodied hand, before sloshing some on Stiles’ abdomen, it wasn’t a perfect clean as most of it soaked into his pants, but it’d have to do for now.

  
“Come on, we’ve got a pack to get home to.” Derek said as he returned the canteen to the bag, resealed it, and slung it over his shoulder.

  
Stiles smiled and Derek was pleased to see a bit of light return to his eyes, sure Stiles had kept his easy-going and smartass attitude, but the alpha hadn’t been blind to the bleak look that had been growing more prominent on his face as the days had gone by.

Without looking back, they ran, following the trail the cars had carved in the dirt, both knowing that soon, they’d be home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the end of that group, now all Stiles and Derek have to do is to make it home before shit hits the fan hard back home.
> 
> Hope you liked it, leave a comment if you like, and again I hope ya'll are doing okay, with everything going on, the struggle is real!
> 
> See ya, when I see ya!
> 
> Love you!


	25. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> First let me apologize for being gone so long, I had a Covid scare and self-isolation took it's toll on my mental health, plus my family-well the ones i live with-were less then supportive...given the fact that two of them are high-risk.
> 
> Anyway the result was negative, which I'm glad for, but it really opened my eyes even more as to the situation thousands of people are going through all over the world, I pray that you're all safe and in good health, and if you're suffering through this, I hope you make it though this!
> 
> And that's enough out of me, hope you enjoy!

Erica, Isaac, and Boyd were all on edge, more than the others were at the moment.

Their control waned as the hours passed, as different but similar wars wedged inside them, the longer they went without Derek the worse their internal struggle was getting, and the more frustrating it became for them. Jackson, and Lydia had been doing their best to help the teens cope, keeping them as distracted as possible with various things and tasks. They still lacked proper anchors but having some semblance of pack surrounding them helped.

They had decided to spend some time at a near by park, a place where no one would give them a second glance, but it was also public so there was no threat of them being attacked by anyone. Scott had shown up to, seeing as he had nothing left to do and no one else to hang out with. Allison was there to, but in order to keep Scott away she clung to Lydia’s side, which made Jackson an unintentional bodyguard for the two.

They were all sitting in the open field section, a ways away from the children’s playground at the other end.

It was only last night that Peter had left them with that half-mad spiel about the alpha that had come into their town, and it was needless to say that they were all worried. They all had been trying to figure out what they were going to do if the alpha chose to confront them sooner or later.

“You guys are a strange group, aren’t you?

All conversation halted as heads turned towards the voice, it was Marek. But how had he managed to sneak up on them.

Allison shifted uneasily from where she sat.

“Ah-ah, easy there, huntress,” He said as he held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Just came to talk.”

Allison remained as ridged as a statue.

“We told you that Derek wasn’t here?” Lydia asked in a light tone.

“News travels fast in the underground-or the supernatural community as it is.” Marek answered easily.

“Beacon Hills has been the topic as of late and I wanted to check it out for myself. The Hale’s were a great pack and the fact that they’re growing in power and kicking up quite the fuss has caught a lot of attention. Even if your pack is just starting out, having the Hale’s as an ally is an opportunity you shouldn’t turn your nose up at.”

“Why approach us when you clearly know our alpha isn’t here at the moment? Or did you forget common pack edict?” Lydia asked, her tone still light and friendly, though it didn’t match up to the backhanded comment she had just given him.

“I know, I remember. It’s just my curiosity got the better of me when I realized that not everyone in alpha Hale’s pack isn’t wolf or even human for that matter.” Marek said with a gentle smile.

“Well we can’t answer any of your questions without our alphas consent, or his second being present, so you’re out of luck for the moment.” Lydia said, keeping natural air of confidence around her she conversed with the lone alpha.

“Right, right. Well I can see when I’m clearly not wanted, I’ll be on my way.” The alpha said as he turned his back on them and left.

“How was he able to sneak up on us?” Isaac questioned, when he was sure the man was gone.

“He’s an alpha remember; he probably has a few tricks we don’t know about.” Boyd answered.

“What I want to know is how Lydia knows more about pack politics then we do?” Erica asked.

“Peter,” Lydia stated. “He owes me for the shit he pulled on my birthday and before that, and he pays me with book and knowledge on the supernatural and pack life/politics.”

“You’re scary, you know that right?” Allison said to her best friend.

Lydia just shrugged at her. “That’s not the point, the point is didn’t you see the way he was looking at some of us, and he knew who Allison was even though he hadn’t seen her the other day. And now since we know for a fact that he hasn’t left, that that means he’s after something, or someone. More than likely one of us, by the looks of it.”

“Or all of us,” Boyd said.

“Then we come up with a plan.” Scott supplied.

“I don’t want to be a part of any plan _you_ come up with.” Erica growled out.

“Quit it, now isn’t the time. We have to get it together because I don’t think he’s going to wait long if what he wants is within his grasp.” Lydia said as she stood and walked off, the others scrambled to follow her.

“What are we going to do?” Isaac questioned the redhead

“What Scott said. We’re going to come up with a plan.”

* * *

Two days passed with no sign of Marek, but the pack didn’t take the chance, with the help of Peter, Chris, and the Sheriff. They worked out a plan to take him down if there was a confrontation, the only ones who were sure there was going to be a fight were both Peter, Lydia, Chris, and the sheriff. With help from Chris they set up traps in and around the train station.

Peter had cracked down on their training, pushing them to their limits in ways Derek hadn’t.

Noah had been more or less saddled with Scott because the others were still reluctant to be around him, out of all the bitten here he had the most experience, but he was also the one who’d screwed up the most. It was safe to say that both Noah and Melissa were not happy with him for what he’d done, all the lies, betrayal, along with the attempted and or possible murder, did not sit well with them, so Scott was on a very strict schedule now. Noah still needed to have a few words with the good doctor Deaton over this, the man seemed toe the line or morality and liked to have all the cards while they had barley any.

So, Noah, Scott, Lydia, Allison, and Chris were all working on the plan, it was good for what they had to work with, if the alpha came after any of them they’d lead him here and let the traps do their work, though peter had informed them that even though most of the traps were laced with wolfsbane it would slow him down, but it wouldn’t take him down, and that’s only if he fell for them.

Another three days passed and still there was no sight of the lone alpha, but a few of them couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched so it meant that the Stilinski house was never really empty.

Noah was silently grateful for that, if he kept coming home to an empty home, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. A few questions arose when he noticed his liquor cabinet was now empty, the wolves had claimed they ha stashed his alcohol somewhere in the house just in case a fight a broke out and that he didn’t need to worry about them drinking it, seeing as one of the side effects of becoming a Were was that you could no longer become intoxicated. Noah was still irritated that they’d done that, but again he was grateful, in a way they reminded him of Stiles, and it helped ease things just a little bit. Things were still awkward between all of them from time to time, but they made it work the best they could giving the circumstances.

Another day had gone by and still there was nothing, it did nothing more then to put them all on edge. Most of them were close to snapping from the stress, more then once did one of the adults have to defuse an argument that was escalating out of hand.

It was the next day when things would blow up in their faces, and even though they didn’t know it, it was also the day their alpha and newly reborn packmate would return home.

* * *

“Fuck!” Jackson cursed as he ran, things had been going so smoothly the plan the others had thought up had been working, but of course mister psycho had to go and ruin everything and they all had scattered throughout the abandoned depot.

Now Jackson was trying to find his way back to the others, because now he knew for a fact that he wouldn’t survive this alone. Luck would have it that he quite literally ran into Boyd, and they silently agreed to stick with one another.

Finding his way into the pack had been strange in the beginning, but apparently since Derek had been the one that bit him, it meant he’d already had a place there, even if it was a low ranking one, and it felt nice to have a pack. Dying had knocked some much-needed sense into him and even though it was terrifying to think that death was catalyst he needed in order to change, he was grateful that it happened, that he hadn’t been alone when he’d died.

Jackson and Boyd moved forward, keeping their senses open for anything, which worked in their favor when Peter martialized out of nowhere.

“Everyone else?” The former alpha asked.

“Separated.” Boyd answered.

“Well then, let’s get a move on.” Peter said.

A heavy thud a few feet away drew their attention and their stood Marek, the cheerful smile he’d greeted them with days ago was nowhere in sight. The right side of his face and arm had puncture wounds all throughout them, curtesy of the shrapnel bomb Chris had laid a few days ago. It had been coated in wolfsbane, but it didn’t seem to bother the alpha, instead the wounds, along with his glowing red eyes made him look like something out of a horror movie.

They watched as his lips curled back as he roared a challenge.

All three betas answered in kind.

* * *

Allison huffed in frustration as she struggled to set up another trap, she was pretty sure it wouldn’t work, but it was worth a try.

Marek had shown up out of the blue like they’d expected him to, he’d been kind and courteous when he’d first arrived but then his mood had shifted when Lydia had told-no-had demanded that he’d leave, and he’d completely changed into something vicious and angry. This happened a few miles back in town, they had gathered as the sun was setting to discuss their plan more when he arrived, all teens had been present, even Scott.

They did what they had been told and lead the alpha back to the abandoned train depot, and the first trap had been sprung, and for a split-second Marek was dangling upside by one leg before he got free and followed them into the second. The shrapnel bomb had gone off, but that had only sent the alpha into a pain induced rage, and Erica who’d been standing to close had been sent flying, Isaac had gone after her. The others were about to do the same, when the alpha blocked their path and charged them, Allison had taken Lydia and they’d ran inside. She hadn’t had enough time to see where the others had gone. They all had specific instructions that if the alpha targeted one of them, it was their job to lead them into the depot where more traps lie along with an ambush, she’d already alerted her dad as to what was going on.

Her bow was slung over her shoulder, she stashed one here when they’d begun planning a few days ago. She was just about to finish another trip snare when the heavy metal doors crashed open and Peter came crashing in.

Marek waltzed in after him like he owned the place, he had dragged both Boyd and Jackson in by the throat and sent them both sailing through the air, both boys landing heavily next to Peter, Allison was pretty sure she heard a few bones break.

Without hesitation she let loose three arrows, all of them found a home somewhere on his body. Marek roared as he pulled two of the three free, one from his shoulder and another from his midsection, the last was embedded in his left thigh.

He pulled the last one free, threw it down in frustration, then charged them. Lydia threw one of the daggers Allison had given her, and it stuck in his side, again he pulled the weapon free and dropped it to the floor before tilting his head to one side and popping the joints in his neck.

“You’ve had your fun, now it my turn.” He said, before he charged them.

* * *

Scott, Isaac, Erica, and Chris had made it inside the depot just as they saw Allison’s bow get snapped in two.

Erica dove into the fight without hesitation when she saw the alpha rear his arm back ready to strike the girl down, the she-wolf grabbed ahold of the alpha’s arm mid slash and held firm, Isaac and Scott following her lead. Scott went for his other arm while Isaac leapt on his back and wrapped his arms around the alphas throat in a chokehold, Chris leveled his gun at the alpha, taking aim. Yet, in one ferocious move, Marek had sent two of three flying, Erica went crashing into Allison, Scott had been sent Lydia’s way, the Banshee had managed to catch the wolf, but the momentum had sent them both crashing to ground. The alpha reached back above his head, sinking his claws into the meat of Isaacs shoulders and yanked him forward, sending the lanky wolf crashing into the elder hunter before he could pull the trigger.

Scott was the first to get back on his feet, Boyd, Jackson, and Peter were far to injured to join back in the fight just yet. Erica was checking on Allison, who been knocked out when they fell. Lydia was unconscious, He was pretty sure both Isaac’s shoulders were dislocated, and Chris was struggling to his feet.

Scott met Erica’s eyes and at once they both charged the alpha, Erica aimed low, and Scott aimed high. Both were successful in landing their blows, their claws racking through flesh. But they were still facing an alpha, even if he were impaired by wolfsbane it didn’t mean he’d be brought down by a simple swipe of the claw.

Both Scott and Erica cried out when Marek imbedded his claws in their stomachs, he tossed Erica aside first, and even though there were claws in his stomach Scott he managed to land a few more blows before Marek sent him flying as well.

As soon as Scott hit the floor Marek began to advance on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh We're almost at the end, one more chapter and we'll be done with this half of the story! that's so exciting!
> 
> I want your thoughts on this chapter, it was a struggle to write, I like action scenes but I'm lacking in the actual planning department. I also would like to know what was your favorite scene?
> 
> Hope to see you guys soon!
> 
> Love you!


	26. chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This is it! The last chapter of this story, but even though it's the end of this story, it's not over for Stiles, Derek, and the pack!
> 
> I hope you all are doing well and staying safe out there!
> 
> enjoy!

They ran for a day, arriving just outside Vancouver Canada, just after the sun had set, they kept to the forests edge as a precaution, neither wanting to chance running into any humans along the way. Stiles wondered briefly, if this was how Derek felt all the time, it was a given after all he’d been through, and if it was, Stiles understood him better now than he had before. They crossed the border in the dead of night with ease, well out sight of anyone who would be out at this time.

When morning came, and what little food they had gotten from Jonna had been eaten, they prepared for the long way home.

“On average, from Vancouver too San Fran, it’s about two-thousand miles. The average human can walk that distance in two weeks, by car it’s roughly sixteen hours. I think we can do it in a week…maybe. I’m still not sure what I’m capable of, or if I can last as long as you, but I think we can make it.” Stiles said as he rummaged through their bag, his shirt had been ruined and he hadn’t thought about switching it till now. He pulled out a fresh t-shirt, pulled off his soiled one, and stuffed it in the bag before pulling on a new dark grey one.

He felt more then heard Derek move behind him, leaning over the teen in order to peer into the bag, he reached in and pulled out his new leather jacket and slipped it on. Figuring Derek had a reason for doing that, Stiles adorned his own then resealed the bag and slung it over his should.

“I think, we’ll make it in less than a week,” Derek said with a small smile.

“Well we won’t know if we continue standing here, now will we?” Stiles said with a sly grin.

Derek let out an amused huff, and with a shared glance they both took off into the night.

* * *

They ran.

They ran through the harsh sunny days, and the cold rainy days-guess it was a good idea that they had put their jackets on, even if they were a pain to dry out-it was a surreal experience for Stiles, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Only stopping when it was really necessary, they continued to keep to the forests, even when there was little to hide behind, they clung to the wilderness as they tore a path home. Stiles had never felt freer in all his life, the world flying by around him, the feel of his bear feet sinking into the dirt with each stride, and the fact that he was getting closer and closer to home made it all the better. Why Scott had turned his nose up at this Stiles would probably never fully understand, but that was a debate for another time.

Hunting was a new experience all together, he’d never been hunting before, his squeamishness around blood had always deterred him, but now things had changed, he found himself eager to search and hunt when his hunger grew too strong to ignore. Stiles guessed that his new lack of said squeamishness was due to the fact that he had the soul of a carnivore residing inside him, but also because he’d lived the better part of almost two month in his own hellish version of Naked & Afraid-minus the naked part, along with an even higher threat to his life. He didn’t try to hunt, instead he watched Derek carefully as the born wolf took down a lone doe with a grace Stiles was sure he’d never reach; the doe didn’t suffer, and they ate well that night. Whatever was left over was stored in their bag, Stiles hadn’t been to keen on it, seeing as they didn’t have a proper container for the cooked meat, but he figured the food wouldn’t be in there for long, and once they got home he could have the bag thoroughly cleaned if they decided to keep it.

They continued on and made it home in a week, to Derek’s dismay.

Stiles felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders when they crossed into Beacon Hills, the sign that welcomed all sat a few feet away from them, along the side of the road. The wind blew and the forest swayed with it, seeming to welcome them home.

The happy moment was cut short when Stiles felt a strange pull in his gut, he hadn’t realized he was growling until Derek’s hand had found the nap of his neck, silencing him.

When he looked at his alpha, Stiles found his eyes burning red.

“Intruder.” Derek rumbled out.

Stiles remembered what Jonna had told them before he’d left, about the threat to the pack, he was already running. Derek falling into step beside him, pulling ahead of the teen out of necessity.

Stiles felt the tugging in his gut pulling him towards the abandoned depot, where all this had begun for him and Derek, now it felt like that argument had been five years ago. Then he had an idea and backtracked when he realized he was somewhere extremely familiar.

Confused Derek followed him as they broke free of the trees and wound up in Stiles’ backyard?

“Stiles what are you doing?” Derek asked as he watched Stiles disappear into the garage via side door, he was surprised the sheriff had left it unlock, but then again who would dare steal from an officer of the law…well his son probably would and form what he’d heard, it was most likely true.

Stiles reappeared in the open doorway with a metal bat in hand and a crazed grin on his face.

“For old times sake.” He said.

Derek rolled his eyes. “If anyone dies because we’re too late, I’m blaming you.”

Stiles huffed. “Please, we’ll be right on time.

Stiles was right they had arrived on time-or in the nick of time, at least.

Somehow Stiles had managed to beat Derek to the double doors and saw some asshole towering over Scott, spewing nonsense about how he was their new alpha. When he saw the alpha about to deliver a killing blow to Scott everything blurred together and then suddenly, he was in front of Scott swinging, and the alpha was sent flying halfway across the room.

A rush of excitement surged through him, and he couldn’t help but grin.

“Man, it feels good to be back!”

* * *

“Stiles?!”

The echo of his name sent a shockwave through the pack, both Lydia and Allison had regained consciousness just a few minutes ago, they all had heard Scott clear as day. Could it be true, was Stiles here? And if he was, did that mean Derek was here as well?

A powerful roar was their answer and eyes were glowing all around, the wounded began healing much faster, and strength surged through them. With their alpha returned to them, it meant their pack was whole again, the small bonds between them sang and pulsed, renewing their hope and bringing them closer together.

Another roar rang out as the two alphas collided.

Stiles grabbed Scott by his shirt, leaving his bat behind, he effortlessly dragged the beta to over where Chris and Isaac were. He needed to get the pack out of the way so Derek could deal with this asshole without having to worry about them.

Next, he went after Lydia, crouching beside the redhead with a grin on his face.

“Hey Lyds.”

She glared up at him. “Stiles I swear to god-“

“Yeah, I missed you too.” He cut in before hoisting her up in his arms, bridal style, and depositing her with the others. Allison had already joined them, seeing as she was the one that was the least injured by human standards.

Then, he went for Erica landing on top of her as he dodged the opposing alpha sailing through the air.

“Batman?” She sobbed out.

“Hey Catwoman, promise not to die on me okay?” He said just before he pulled her up and away from the battle, she groaned in pain when her wounds began to protest.

When Stiles made sure she was safe and the others had her, he quickly made his way over to where the other three were. Boyd was making his way to his feet, while Peter was already standing. He went for Jackson, who was still lying on the floor and pulled him up, pulling one of Jackson’s arms over his shoulder, his own arm snaking around the other teen’s waist.

“Stilinski?” The former Kanima questioned.

“Hey Jacks, glad to see you finally got your head out of your ass.”

Stiles was a little surprised when he heard a small huff of amusement escape Jackson.

“You’re looking rather healthy.” Peter cut in before Stiles could gush over Jackson laughing at one of his jokes.

“For lack of a better word, yes.” Stiles answered.

He was about to make his way over to the others when movement caught his eye, he had just enough time to shove Jackson away from him and into Peter when Derek came crashing into him. Stiles wasn’t sure how, but he managed to catch his alpha and keep them both standing upright. Derek was bleeding from his left arm, but other then that he was okay.

“Need a hand?” Stiles questioned.

Derek growled.

“Good, then show him what it means when you fuck with the wrong pack!” Stiles said as he pushed Derek off of him and back towards the other alpha.

Derek let loose another terrifying roar as he charged the other alpha.

Said alpha looked like absolute shit, Stiles had seen him earlier and thought he looked like roadkill, but now he looked like he’d been through a meat grinder. The other alphas clothes were in tatters and his skin was torn open almost everywhere, leaving bits of muscle and flesh hanging. Stiles swore he could see bone peaking out here and there and wanted to gag, it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Derek advanced on the alpha slowly.

Something in the alpha’s eyes made Stiles pause, he was afraid. All the confidence and bluster he had earlier was no where in sight, he hadn’t planned on Derek being here, clearly this man hadn’t ever fought a fellow alpha before, and it made Stiles wonder just how he’d gotten his status.

He watched the man’s eyes dart to where the pack had gathered, and it struck a chord inside Stiles. He hadn’t pegged this man for a coward but desperate times, he guessed.

Stiles was already moving when the alpha began to charge towards the pack, he intercepted him and delivered a swift kick to his chest that had the alpha stumbling backward. Stiles landed on the floor on all fours, his hands and feet spread out ready to pounce if need be, a threatening growl rumbled in his chest.

The look in the alpha’s eyes went from desperate to wild and he lunged, only to be tackled to the ground by Derek. Stiles watched as they wrestled, both fighting to get the upper hand. He kept his eyes trained on the fight as he backed up towards the pack, Peter and the others had made their way over as soon as Derek had gotten the other alpha away from them.

Stiles felt multiple pairs of hands on his body, pressing against his shoulders, arms, back and legs. It helped ground him and he knew that it was also helping the pack vice versa.

Somehow the two alphas had managed to sperate and were glaring at each other. They were at a stalemate, Derek may be the least injured, but they had to take in account the fact that he’s been missing for months and fighting for his life, not to mention making his way back home.

Derek pulled back his shift and spoke. “You have one more chance to leave and never come back, I don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to.”

The alpha roared in response before lunging once again his movements to wild and uncoordinated. Derek was faster and more focused, they collided, and Derek used the other alphas momentum against him and pinned him to the ground, clawing his throat out in one move.

Lydia screamed, if Stiles had thought her scream had been piercing before, it was head splitting now. He clasped his hands over his ears, it hardly worked seeing as he was right next to her.

The silence was deafening when her scream faded and Derek stood, the others following suit.

“Stiles…You guys are really hear?” Scott said as his eyes darted from between the two.

Everyone turned to face him.

Stiles smiled at him. “Yeah were back man.”

“But how?” The teen questioned.

“That’s a long story Scotty, maybe another time.”

“But-“ Scott was about to continue

“He’s right Scott, the how and why can wait till later, for now they,” Chris said as he gestured to Stiles and Derek, “need to get down to the sheriffs station, they’ve both been filed as missing persons and it would raise to many questions if they just showed up overnight without going there first. I’ll take care of things here, the rest of you need to go home and wait till your called, alright.”

No one was in the mood to argue, but they all didn’t hesitate to pull the two into a much-needed hug. Scott lingered on the edge still unsure of where he stood, Stiles only offered him a small pat on the shoulder and a partial smile. It looked like he wanted to say something to Scott, but he was interrupted by Isaac before he could say anything.

“Hey, where are your shoes?”

* * *

Stiles was the first one to make it through the door, followed closely by Derek-both sans leather jackets. They were both pretty grimy after spending a week running home with no way to clean themselves and the fight hadn’t helped, though it wasn’t like any of them had cared, plus it would help with the story.

Tara, who had been manning the front desk had stood up in shock when her eyes landed on them, her hands covering her mouth as tears filled her eyes. She didn’t hesitate to quickly make her way around her desk and all but flinging herself at the boy she’d babysat as a child, others were beginning to gather around as well, the noise in the station reaching new levels with every new person that gathered around them.

“What’s all the commotion abo-” Noah had said as he made his way out of his office at the sound of Tara’s borderline hysterical crying and froze at the sight of his son wrapped in her arms.

“Dad.” Stiles said once they locked eyes over her shoulder, he pulled away from Tara and rushed over to his dad.

They met in the middle.

Noah wasted no time in pulling his son into a bone crushing hug.

“Son.” Noah croaked out.

And before they knew it, they had both fallen to their knees, eyes filled with tears as they clung to each other tightly.

Everything had become a blur after that, Stiles and the sheriff were finally able to let go of each other after roughly fifteen minutes. Someone had called the ambulance for them, and Stiles was thrown for a loop when he saw his dad give Derek a bone crushing hug of his own, judging by the face his alpha was making it had thrown him off too.

A few minutes later and against their weak protest they were loaded into the ambulance and taken to the hospital. Once there both were given a full body examination and forced to stay overnight due to the fact that they were both a bit malnourished and dehydrated.

Melissa couldn’t stop crying after she’d yelled at Stiles for a solid five minute. The teen didn’t take it to hard, he knew she loved him like a son, and he loved her like a mom. He couldn’t help but snicker when he heard Derek getting the same riot act from the Latina woman. Stiles laughed even louder at the sheepish look on Derek’s face, Melissa McCall was a terrifying women. But it was how she showed she cared when it came to the fact that, all the children she watched over were complete idiots.

In their short stay, they were both interrogated by his dads’ deputies, minus Tara. Stiles had been grateful that they at least got to share a room for the time being because it meant that Derek got to see the pack without it raising to many eyebrows as to why a bunch of teens were visiting an older man that only three of them had any real ties too.

Stiles was just glad to be home, he had one month left before school began, and it was their junior year, maybe this one wouldn’t be as bad as the last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed my story, this is actually my first ever COMPLETED story and I am so proud of myself!
> 
> Let me know you thoughts, what you liked and so on. Oh, also, I need ships, I'm open to almost every ship in the fandom, and since there's so many to pick from I'm having a hard time picking them for the next story in the series, so suggestions are welcome!
> 
> Love you guys and I'll see you again when I finish the next story!

**Author's Note:**

> Just a teaser to get you guys interested, I'll either be posting once a week or as often as I see fit depending on if you guys really like it, seeing as I've already completed the story and will begin working on the next installment of the series.
> 
> Kudos are appreciated, and comments are coveted.


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